![]() ![]() Plants must be set out in a weed-free environment. Shallow roots also mean that lingonberries do not compete well with weeds. Although the plant does not need the boggy conditions of the cranberry, the roots are shallow and need a consistent moisture supply. To accomplish this, I turned 7 pounds of pre-moistened peat moss into 100 square feet of soil. They need well drained soils that are rich in organic matter. Lingonberries are slow to establish, taking four to seven years to mature, and they compete poorly with other plants. The pH need to be below 5.8, with the ideal being 5.0. Lingonberries do not do well in excessively hot, droughty conditions. As with any fruit bearing crop, sunnier sites encourage larger crops. Lingonberries grow well in full sun or partial shade, making them an ideal understory plant for such other acid loving plants as highbush blueberries. It does need protection from drying winds in open winters. The acid-loving plant grows best in a cool climate and is hardy to at least 30 below zero with snow cover. Mature plants reach 12 to 18 inches in height and spread up to 18 inches. Branches sprout from both underground runners and the plant base. The lingonberry grows as a shiny leaved, short spreading, evergreen shrub, quite similar to the lowbush blueberry, although the branches of the plant are more tender and less woody. majus) have slightly larger berries and often bear two crops in one growing season. The cultivated lingonberries of European origin ( Vaccinum vitis-idaea var. This native species bears an annual crop of small red berries that are similar to cranberries in tartness and texture. minimus), usually known as the lowbush or mountain cranberry, do grow wild in the cooler regions of the United States. ![]() The next time I visited I saw their plants, and the following spring, they gave me a dozen of the trailing plants.Ī close relative of the cranberry and the blueberry, lingonberries ( Vaccinum vitis-idaea var. Having not acted quickly enough, my life was void of lingonberries – until some northern friends of Scandinavian descent gave me a jar of their lingonberry sauce. I did have to act quickly though, because supplies were limited. The ad promised bushels of berries and great fortune in no time at all, and with little labor. Lingonberry plants can also be used in place of of ground covers like vincas or varieties of sedum.Until recently, the only place that I had heard about lingonberries was on the back page ad of the newspaper’s comic section. Plant them as a border plant 18 inches apart in lieu of boxwoods, hollies, or dwarf conifers. ![]() The plants can tolerate some shade and are also cold-hardy – to zone 2! It will take about 1-2 years before your lingonberry plants begin producing fruit, but it's worth the wait: you will get 2 crops, one in mid-summer (around July or August) and the second in late fall (starting in October through November)! Their compact size makes lingonberry plants, like the Koralle Lingonberry variety, perfect for containers and window boxes. Lingonberry plants like to be grown in acidic soil. Since the plant blooms twice during the growing season, the lingonberry has an extended crop that ripens in mid-August and again in mid-October in zone 5. It starts out green before gradually turning red when ripe. The lingonberry fruit is similar to a cranberry and about the size of a wild blueberry. The low-growing plant blooms twice in the growing season: once in the spring and again later in the summer. It is widely found in the forests of northern Europe, northern America, and Canada. The lingonberry plant is a hardy perennial evergreen shrub or ground-cover that grows about 1-1.5 feet tall (12-18 inches). so I don't have to tell you they are delicious! What are Lingonberries? There, you can buy the berry in every form imaginable as lingonberry concentrate, soda, jelly, jam and more. Have you ever heard of lingonberries? Anyone in zone 7 or cooler can grow cold-hardy lingonberry plants right in their own backyard.Ĭity girl that I am, I've known about lingonberries for quite some time thanks to the Swedish company IKEA.
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