Avoid the shock; plant in winter.

All the berry plants except the softer Amla berry and Cape Gooseberry plants can be planted in winter, even in the very cold areas of the country that do get black frost. Winter is an ideal time to plant most trees including berry shrubs as they are dormant and will not go into shock during transport or transplant as they sometimes do during summer where they usually get stunted for a few weeks, or in severe cases even die.

One of our blueberry and blackberry farmers chose to order plants in advance to expand their orchard each winter by planting in the coldest week of the winter when their morning temperature is around -10˚C. Although the top part of the plant is dormant, the roots continue to grow giving the plant a better capacity to take up water and nutrients when temperatures and daylight hours increase again in spring, while eliminating the risk of plant shock.

Some varieties are evergreen, even in colder, high-altitude climates as seen in the image below. Since their leaves stay green, they continue to photosynthesise and transfer nutrients.

The larger 1L and 3L shrub pot size and the hardened-off rooted plugs can be planted in winter.