Vaccinium vitis-idaea
Lingonberry
Common names: Cowberry, Mountain cranberry
At a glance
- Light
- Partial shade
- Hardiness
- Hardy down to −30 °C
- Harvest
- Aug–Oct
- Spacing
- 30 cm, rows 40 cm
- Water need
- Medium
- Origin
- Native to Germany
Photo: Jonas Bergsten · Public Domain · Source
Description
The lingonberry (Vaccinium vitis‑idaea) is a low, evergreen dwarf shrub with leathery leaves and small, tart red berries. It is well suited as a groundcover in acidic bog beds and provides the classic accompaniment to game and cheese. Cultivars such as 'Koralle' often fruit twice a year.
Care instructions
Plant the lingonberry broadly in acidic, well‑draining bog‑soil at a sunny to partially shaded location. Water with low‑lime rainwater and keep the soil consistently moist but not waterlogged. Mulch with pine needles and harvest the berries from August onward, they remain fresh for several weeks due to their acidity.
The care notes were machine-translated from German.
Garden year
HarvestAug–Oct
Soil & site
Soil pH
Soil type
humus-rich, well-drained, moist, lean, lime-avoiding
The lingonberry needs acidic, humus-rich, evenly moist soil without waterlogging, in other words a classic ericaceous bed. In heavy soil, work in acidic substrate and make sure of drainage; water with low-lime rainwater, as lime causes iron deficiency and paling of the leaves.
Feeding
Light feeder
Months
Mar–Apr
The lingonberry is very undemanding and reacts sensitively to too much fertiliser. If needed at all, give a little compost or horn shavings shallowly around the plant in early spring as growth starts, and do not work it in deeply, to spare the shallow roots. A mulch of pine needles or heather keeps the soil acidic and moist.
Overwintering
The lingonberry is completely hardy and gets through winters in the lowlands of Germany, Austria and Switzerland outdoors without protection. In a container, place the pot in a sheltered spot against a house wall and water lightly on frost-free days, as the evergreen plant would otherwise suffer from winter desiccation.
Propagation
Methods
- Cuttings
- Layering
- Division
- Runners
- From seed
The most reliable way to propagate the lingonberry is vegetatively, as seedlings may not come true to variety and take a very long time to fruit.
Cuttings (recommended main method): In early summer (June), cut one-year-old, still semi-ripe shoots about 5 to 8 cm long, just below a leaf node. Remove the lower leaves and keep only the shoot tip with 2 to 3 pairs of leaves. Insert the cuttings in a loose, acidic substrate of coarse sand and ericaceous or rhododendron compost, and keep it evenly moist. Place the pots in a bright spot, but out of full sun, and cover them loosely with a clear dome to raise the humidity. After 4 to 8 weeks the cuttings have formed roots; overwinter them frost-free and plant them out the following spring.
Offsets/runners (easiest method for established mats): The lingonberry spreads by underground rhizomes that form rooted daughter shoots all around. In spring or early autumn, dig up an established mat shallowly and widely (the roots sit just below the surface), shake off the soil and look for places where a shoot has already formed its own roots. Separate such rooted runners with a clean cut and set them straight away in the prepared new site. These offsets establish fastest.
Layering (for single shoots): In autumn, bend a long, healthy ground shoot down to the soil, lightly nick it at the bend, cover this spot with acidic soil and fix the shoot with a stone or a wire hook. By the following spring an independent root system has formed. Then you separate the layer from the parent plant and replant it.
Division (for large, dense clumps): Older, broadly spread mats can be cut off at the edge with a sharp spade in spring or early autumn; take several shoots with a hand-length piece of well-rooted rhizome for each section. Replant the pieces straight away and water in well.
Sowing (for wild types, very slow): Harvest ripe berries in autumn, wash off the flesh and store the seeds cool and moist (stratification for 4 to 6 weeks in the fridge). Sow in late winter onto acidic, lime-free substrate, cover the seeds only with a very thin layer and keep them moist at 15 to 18 °C. Germination is uneven; 3 to 4 years pass before the first harvest. Cultivars mostly do not come true from seed; for these, prefer cuttings, offsets or division.
Companion planting
Good neighbors
Companion planting is partly traditional gardening lore. Where the reason is known, it is given.
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