Before the Hylebos blueberry bushes can bear their best berries, their branches need to be trimmed to support their growth.

Each year, the Hylebos Blueberry Farm Park hosts a free pruning seminar to help community members learn how to properly care for these plants.

This year’s event on March 1 featured rare sunshine and high of a balmy 62 degrees. Volunteers enjoyed the weather and gathered at the park at 630 S. 356th St. in Federal Way to learn from Master Gardeners Jim and Donna Cox.

26 volunteers participated, according to Shelley Pauls, who has been a leader in the effort to restore the former blueberry farm and transform it into a park for everyone to enjoy. The park has been restored by a dedicated group of volunteers in partnership with the city, including local organizations We Love Federal Way and the Marine Hills Garden Club.

“This Save the Farm effort has been possible thanks to the hundreds of volunteers and hours dedicated to restoring the historical Hylebos Blueberry Farm,” Pauls told the Mirror.

First, volunteers learned how to trim blueberry branches to promote growth and fruit production. Volunteers then got to work getting hands-on experience with the rows of blueberry bushes at the park — some of which are decades old and over 7 feet tall.

Pauls told the Mirror that the volunteers also had the opportunity to learn about mason bees, which nest in small holes in wood. The Blueberry Farm Park hosts several mason bee homes.

Jim Cox told the Mirror the goal of pruning the bushes is “to reduce competition for the energy that the plant produces” and direct that energy toward the “young, healthy shoots that will produce more leaves and more fruit.”

This pruning can be done this time of year in spring or even in the fall — really anytime during the coldest seasons of the year while the plants are in a more dormant phase, Cox said.

Clippers and pruners were provided by the South King Tool Library, which has plenty of tools available for anyone in the community to borrow for spring gardening needs.

“We love seeing many friends who return year after year. We are always thrilled when new volunteers come and are as excited about blueberries as we are,” Pauls said.

The blueberries will begin to ripen as early as June, Cox told the Mirror. The bushes are available for the community to pick and enjoy for free, and there will also be more opportunities soon to help with the maintenance of the park.

As more blueberry bushes are added to the park, volunteers have focused on adding variety, which helps there be ripe blueberries until as late as August. One of the last blueberry varieties to ripen will be a pink lemonade blueberry that isn’t actually blue at all, Cox said.