Lingonberry garden: planting and care

In the minds of most people, lingonberry is associated with taiga forests and forest-tundra expanses, which are covered with fields of beautiful and healing berries. But it turns out that there is also a garden lingonberry, which is quite capable of settling on a personal plot and becoming its decoration, while bringing health benefits at the same time.

Brief description of lingonberry

Lingonberry was widely used by distant ancestors. It is not for nothing that its name comes from the Old Slavic word "lumber", which means red and hints at the bright colors of its berries.

Lingonberry is an evergreen shrub, reaching a height of no more than 30 cm. Evergreen dark shiny oval leaves up to 2-3 cm long are its main decoration in the cold season. Below on the leaves you can see resinous glands in the form of black dots. At the end of spring, small bell-shaped flowers of a pale pink hue appear at the ends of last year's stems. They are not strong, but they smell good.

Lingonberry roots, rhizomes and underground shoots are located underground, with the help of which plants can conquer additional living spaces. The system of rhizome and underground shoots is located in the upper layer of the earth, no deeper than 15-20 cm.

Seeds are small, reddish-brown, crescent-shaped.

What type of fruit is lingonberry

The fruits of the lingonberry garden are of a round shape, shiny red berries. That is, from a botanical point of view, these are multi-seeded fruits, which consist of a fleshy pericarp and a thin upper layer (skin). They can reach 8-10 mm in diameter and about 0.5 g in weight.

Lingonberry has a tart sweet and sour taste, with a slight bitterness. In nature, fruits ripen from mid-August to late September. They can winter under the snow and in spring they crumble at the slightest touch.

One berry contains from 5 to 30 seeds.

Lingonberry yield per season

In the wild, the yield of lingonberries is insignificant - only about 100 g of berries can be harvested from one square meter.

Even with the transfer of wild-growing shrubs to cultural conditions, their productivity can increase several times. The first forms of garden lingonberry were already capable of producing 700-800 g of berries per square meter of land. But over time, it turned out that some varieties of lingonberry garden can bear fruit twice per season, and thereby increase the total yield per season up to 2 kg / sq. m.

Compliance with the features of planting and caring for lingonberries, described in the article, will allow you to get from plants even more than 2 kg of berries from 1 sq. m.

Is it possible to grow lingonberries in the garden

It was a significant increase in yield when trying to grow garden lingonberry in culture that forced breeders to come to grips with breeding its garden forms.

Back in the middle of the last century, Swedish, German, Dutch and American breeders were engaged in this process almost simultaneously. At the moment, there are already more than 20 varieties of lingonberry, which differ not only in significant yield indicators, but also in the larger size of berries and the height of cultivated bushes.

At the same time, the requirements for planting and care for wild and garden lingonberries are almost identical.

1. Lingonberry can grow and bear fruit well only on acidic and well-drained soils with a minimum organic content.
2. The moisture conditions in the root zone should correspond to the "golden mean". If it is too dry, especially at high temperatures, the lingonberry bushes will die. On the other hand, with constant waterlogging of the soil, they will also die, primarily from a lack of oxygen exchange in the soil.
3. Garden lingonberry is quite easy to adapt to any air temperature. But in extreme heat conditions, she will need more abundant and regular watering, and the berries may still become smaller.
4. Neither garden nor wild lingonberry is afraid of frost, tolerates up to -40 ° C in winter. The only thing is that its flowers can suffer from frosts in late spring or early autumn (they cannot stand temperatures below -4 ° C).
5. Lingonberries love good lighting, and in partial shade conditions, the yield will decrease, and the berries will become smaller.
6. In no case should you overfeed the lingonberry bushes - in natural conditions they grow on very poor soil.

Varieties of garden lingonberry

As already mentioned earlier, foreign breeders have been especially active in breeding forms of garden lingonberry in the last 50-70 years. But in Russia, in the State Register of Breeding Achievements, three varieties of garden lingonberry are currently registered:

• Kostroma pink;
• Ruby;
• Kostromichka.

Although these varieties are inferior to imported ones in yield, the height of the bushes and the size of the berries, they take root and feel themselves in Russian conditions, according to gardeners, sometimes better than their foreign counterparts.

Description lingonberry Beliavskoe fleece

The garden lingonberry variety was bred by Polish breeders in 1996. It forms low, but compact and dense spherical bushes, which are 20-25 cm in height and in width. Differs in early ripening: from mid-August to early September. The berries are quite large, oval in shape, ranging in size from 9.5 to 11 mm. They have a sour, but mild taste.

The variety is also distinguished by self-fertility and high yield (up to 300-350 g per bush). It tolerates frost well.

Judging by the reviews, the runo belyavskoe lingonberry variety is in demand among gardeners, primarily due to its frost resistance, high yield and attractive taste.

Coral

This variety, originally from the Netherlands, is considered the very first garden form of lingonberry obtained in culture. It was registered back in 1969. Despite its rather advanced age, Coral is still popular due to its high yield and decorative effect.

Its berries are not the largest (up to 0.9 cm in diameter), but a lot of them ripen. In addition, the bushes are distinguished by their remontability, that is, they can bring 2 crops per year. The first harvest is small, it ripens in late July or early August. The second harvest yields the largest number of berries in late September or early October. In total, up to 400 g or more berries can be obtained from one bush per season.

The bushes are distinguished by erect shoots more than 30 cm long. Daughter rosettes are poorly formed.

Red Pearl

Another Dutch variety of garden lingonberry, registered already in 1981.The berries are large in size, up to 12 mm in length. And the bushes themselves and the leaves are relatively large in size. It is also capable of forming two crops per season, but the yield is slightly lower than that of Coral.

Sanna

This cultivar of garden lingonberry was bred in Sweden, in the province of Småland in 1988. Its distinctive feature is the intensive formation of daughter rosettes on underground shoots. Thanks to this, soon after planting one plant in the garden, a whole carpet of lingonberries can form. The berries are rather large, round in shape, reach 0.4 g by weight, ripen in mid-August. From one bush, you can get 300-400 g of lingonberries. It is the most productive of the Swedish garden forms.

Kostroma pink

This Russian cultivar of garden lingonberry is characterized by the largest berries. Their diameter reaches 10 mm, and the mass of some reaches 1.2 g.

The bushes are small in height - up to 15 cm. Differs in self-fertility and early maturity, ripens in mid-August. Lingonberry yield varies depending on growing conditions from 800 g to 2.6 kg per square meter.

Ruby

Considered the most promising variety of lingonberry garden Russian selection, it can bear fruit twice a year. True, in the conditions of the Kostroma region this is not always possible due to early autumn frosts. It was obtained, like all other Russian varieties of lingonberry, in 1995. The berries are medium in size, reaching 0.6 g. The yield, thus, is up to 2.9 kg / sq. m per season. Bushes are low - up to 18-20 cm.

Underground shoots actively form babies, so the variety can be used as a ground cover plant. Ruby is classified as self-infertile, therefore, it requires the mandatory presence of insects (bumblebees) on the site.

Kostromichka

The Russian cultivar of garden lingonberry Kostromichka is also distinguished by low bushes. Its advantage is early maturity, the berries ripen in the first half of August. They differ in average size (diameter about 8 mm, weight - about 0.3-0.5 g). However, the yield can be up to 2.4 kg / sq. m.

Varieties of garden lingonberry for the Moscow region

In the conditions of the Moscow region, almost any variety of garden lingonberry should have enough heat and light in order not only to grow and bear fruit well, but also to give two harvests per season, if it has potential data for this.

In addition to the above, in the Moscow region, you can plant the following varieties of lingonberry garden:

1. Erythkrone, a variety from Germany that is capable of producing two harvests per season.
2. Eritzegen, also a German variety, distinguished by especially large (more than 1 cm) and sweet-tasting berries.
3. Ammerland, another German variety of garden lingonberry, forming tall, spherical single bushes, 30 cm in diameter. It has a rather high yield (up to 300 g per bush) and double fruiting.

The rest of the known varieties do not differ in such high yield rates, but they can be quite used for decorative purposes.

How garden lingonberries reproduce

Lingonberry can reproduce quite easily generatively (by seeds) and vegetatively (by green and lignified cuttings, underground rhizomes and children).

Seed method

Under natural conditions, young lingonberry plants, hatching from seeds, appear around June-July. At home, sprouts can begin to develop in the spring.

In general, reproduction by seeds allows you to get almost free of charge a considerable number of seedlings ready for planting, especially since lingonberry seedlings are very expensive (about 500 rubles with a closed root system). In addition, the seeds are usually harder and more adapted to the specific growing conditions of plants.

But this breeding method also has disadvantages:

1. The fruiting of bushes that have grown from seeds can be expected for at least 4-5 years.
2. This activity is quite laborious and for the first two years the seedlings require constant attention and may die due to any oversight.
3. Plants obtained from seeds do not retain the characteristics of their variety, so anything can grow from them.

Lingonberry propagation by cuttings

Both green and lignified cuttings of garden lingonberry are suitable for reproduction.

Green cuttings are usually harvested in mid-July, while lignified ones - at the end of March, in April - during the period of bud swelling.

After cutting and before planting, they can be stored in moist sphagnum at temperatures from 0 to + 5 ° C.

It is best to root cuttings in greenhouse conditions in loose and acidic peat-sandy soil. The length of the cuttings should be between 5 and 8 cm.

The lower leaves are cut off, leaving only the upper 2-3 buds, which are located above the soil surface. The rest of the cutting, pretreated with Kornevin or another stimulant, is placed in the ground.

From above, the cuttings should be covered with a film on arcs and additionally insulated with non-woven material if the weather is cold.

Roots can appear as early as 3-4 weeks, but the final rooting takes place within a few months. During the entire time, the soil must be kept moist, and the plants must be periodically sprayed. By autumn, the bed with cuttings is covered with a layer of mulch and again insulated with covering material.

The next year, in the spring, rooted cuttings can be transplanted into pots or a special growing bed.

Depending on the conditions of care, the rooting rate of such cuttings can be from 50 to 85%. The first fruits on them may appear in 2-3 years.

Since a lot of cuttings can be cut, and the resulting bushes retain all the properties of mother plants, this method of propagation is more popular among gardeners.

Propagation by rhizomes

In the same way, you can cut cuttings in early spring from underground shoots or rhizomes of garden lingonberries. They are cut 10-15 cm long so that each has at least one bud or shoot rudiment. Cuttings are planted to a depth of about 10 cm in loose and acidic soil. The rest of the care for the resulting bushes is the same as described above. The rooting rate is usually around 70-80%.

Reproduction by layering

Since some varieties of garden lingonberry have an increased ability to form children, this is often used for propagation of bushes. Up to 10 cuttings can be obtained from one plant. You can also separate babies in early spring or autumn. In the first case, they are traditionally planted on a planting bed, and by the fall, full-fledged plants are formed from them. In the autumn branch, the children are seated in pots and left to winter in a frost-free room. The survival rate of seedlings with this method of propagation is usually 85-100%.

Therefore, propagation by layering is the most reliable way to propagate lingonberries. But you won't be able to get a lot of seedlings in this way.

Growing lingonberries from seeds at home

If a decision is made to grow garden lingonberries from seeds, then it is easier and safer to do this at home.

Recommended sowing dates

Lingonberry seeds are capable of actively germinating only after stratification. Since stratification usually takes 4 months, it must be started in advance, in November-December. At this time, the seeds selected from the fruits are washed and mixed with wet sand. The container with seeds is placed in a refrigerator or other cold place where the temperature is constantly maintained at about + 4 ° C.

Sowing begins after four months, that is, around March or April.

Preparation of soil and containers

For sowing a garden culture, you can use any plastic or ceramic containers. Their volume depends on the number of seeds sown.Usually use half-liter or larger containers.

Ideal composition for germinating lingonberry seeds:

• 3 parts of sphagnum peat;
• 2 pieces of sand;
• 1 part perlite.

Drainage (expanded clay, fine gravel) is usually placed on the bottom of the containers with a layer of about 1 cm, then the prepared soil is poured and spilled with snow or rain water for compaction.

How to plant lingonberries correctly

The most important feature of lingonberry seed propagation is that its seeds germinate only in the light. Therefore, in no case should they be sprinkled with soil on top.

1. Usually in the prepared and slightly compacted soil mixture, grooves are made, several millimeters deep.
2. Lingonberry seeds are poured into the grooves.
3. The container is covered with polyethylene on top and placed in a well-lit place with a temperature of about + 20 ° C.
4. The film is periodically lifted to ventilate and check the moisture content of the soil.
5. If necessary, moisten the soil.
6. On the 12-15th day, the first shoots may appear, but the appearance of the rest may well last for 4 weeks.
7. After a month, the film can be removed completely.

Rules for growing lingonberries at home

When lingonberry seedlings form 4-5 leaves, it is advisable to cut them into boxes, observing a distance of 5 cm relative to each other.

In the first months, young lingonberry plants need a lot of light and relatively little heat. They should not be placed in a room that is too warm. The ideal temperature will be from + 15 ° С to + 20 ° С.

Humidity should also be moderate, but it is not advisable to let the soil dry out.

Already in the first season, they can start branching. It is best to keep young lingonberry plants for the entire first year of life in a box at home, without planting in open ground. And only in the second season, the seedlings can be carefully transplanted into a seedling bed prepared in advance. Or you can plant it in separate containers that will hibernate in the greenhouse.

Only in the third year of life, it is recommended to plant lingonberry seedlings in a permanent place of growth.

Planting and caring for lingonberries in the open field

In order for the garden lingonberry to please not only with good growth, but also with abundant harvests, it is necessary to pay attention to all its care requirements. Moreover, the plant is not particularly capricious. There are only basic nuances that must be considered when dealing with this culture.

Recommended landing dates

You can plant lingonberry bushes in the garden both in spring and autumn. But planting lingonberries in the fall carries the risk that plants that are insufficiently prepared for winter may simply die. Therefore, in the autumn period, usually only fully strengthened seedlings are planted, preferably with a closed root system, without violating the integrity of the earthen coma.

Most gardeners recommend planting a berry in the spring. Depending on the weather conditions in the region, this can be done from mid to late April, or in May.

Site selection and soil preparation

When choosing a suitable place for laying lingonberry, it is necessary, first of all, to take into account its illumination. Indeed, when shading, the bushes increase the growing area and leaf mass, but the yield inevitably decreases.

The relief should be as even and horizontal as possible. So that the lingonberries are not planted in depressions where water can stagnate. On the other hand, an irrigation source should also be located nearby in order to continuously supply the bushes with the necessary moisture.

Wind protection desirable. You can use the walls of buildings or rows of planted trees for these purposes.

Garden lingonberry is not so picky about the choice of soil, it can grow even on practically bare rocks.The most important thing for her is good drainage, which ensures a constant flow of oxygen to the roots and an acidic reaction of the soil environment. Therefore, she will feel bad on black soil and heavy loams. Sandy soils are best suited for growing lingonberries in the garden.

If garden lingonberries are supposed to be grown in rather large volumes, then the soil for it must be plowed up and completely rid of perennial rhizomes weeds... This is best done a year before planting. On heavy soils, a significant amount of sand will need to be applied. But lingonberries will grow well only if the acidity of the soil does not exceed 4-5.

The easiest way is for those who plant lingonberries will occupy only a few square meters. In this case, garden lingonberries can be grown on any soil, creating a special soil for it.

1. To do this, in the fenced area, remove the top layer of soil about 25 cm thick and remove all weed rhizomes mechanically.
2. Then the vacated area is covered with a mixture of high-moor peat, sand, coniferous litter, sawdust and part of the forest floor from the coniferous forest.
3. Then the surface of the resulting soil is sprinkled with sulfur, in an amount of about 50 g per 1 sq. m.
4. Finally, the soil is compacted and a layer of sand about 4-5 cm thick is poured on top.
5. The prepared area is watered with acidified water, based on the calculation - per 1 sq. m. of land use 10 liters of liquid.

If you wish, you can also add a set of mineral fertilizers in the amount of:

• 20 g of saltpeter;
• 40 g double superphosphate;
• 20 g of potassium sulfate per 1 sq. m.

When planting garden lingonberries, you should not use organic fertilizers (manure, humus, compost) and those that contain chlorine.

How to plant lingonberries in the country

The density of placement of garden lingonberry seedlings on the prepared plot is determined, first of all, by the varietal characteristics of the plants. Cultivars prone to the formation of children should be planted a little more spaciously.

On average, the distance between bushes in a row should be left equal to 25-30 cm, and between rows - 30-40 cm.

Plants are planted, slightly deepening them (1-1.5 cm) into the ground, compared to how they grew in the previous place. The plot is immediately watered and mulched with a layer of sawdust, pine bark, nutshells or sand, 3-5 cm high.

In the first two weeks after planting lingonberries in a summer cottage, watering should be regular (daily in the absence of rain).

Growing lingonberries in a personal plot

Watering is a very important procedure for the care of growing garden lingonberries. It is advisable to carry out drip irrigation so that in dry and hot weather, watering is carried out at least twice a week. For 1 sq. m. it is necessary to spend about 10 liters of water.

Watering with acidified water can be carried out several times per season in order to maintain the required level of acidity in the soil. For this, it is most advisable to use a solution of battery electrolyte (for 10 liters of water, 50 ml of solution).

As for fertilizing, it makes sense to apply fertilizers for the first time only in the second year after planting lingonberries in the ground. And here the basic rule should act - it is better to underfeed than to overdo it in this direction.

Of the fertilizers, sulfuric acid forms are most suitable; you can also use superphosphate in an amount of 5 g per 1 sq. m.

The next top dressing with a complex mineral fertilizer is carried out only when the lingonberry begins to bear fruit abundantly.

Weed control is very important when caring for lingonberries. In addition to their mechanical removal and periodic loosening of the soil, it is important to constantly maintain the required thickness of the mulching layer around the lingonberry bushes (from 3-4 cm). It serves both to maintain the required moisture level, and to protect against frost in the winter and to combat weeds and for additional plant nutrition.

On purely peaty soils, it is best to mulch the planting with sand. In other cases, it will help:

• sawdust;
• coniferous litter;
• chopped bark;
• shavings;
• gravel;
• nutshell;
• chopped straw.

In the Moscow region, planting and caring for lingonberries are completely standard. But special attention should be paid to the danger of frost in late spring and early autumn. Because of them, ovaries and flowers can be damaged and, accordingly, part of the crop is lost.

To protect the bushes, they can be covered with various insulating materials: spunbond, spruce branches, straw, film. Or use smoke bombs on the eve of frost.

In order not to reduce the productivity of garden lingonberry bushes, they need pruning and thinning, starting from about 6-8 years of age.

Rejuvenating pruning is carried out by cutting off the tops of the bushes in early spring (before the juices begin to move) and leaving about 5-7 leaves at a height of 5-6 cm. After pruning, lingonberries should be fed with complex fertilizer in small doses. Fruiting after pruning will resume only the next year, but after a few years, it may even surpass previous yields.

For gentle pruning, only about 1/3 of the branches are cut from the middle of the bushes, or only 1/3 of the bush is cut in height.

Since many of the varieties of garden lingonberries are self-fertile, it is necessary to actively attract and protect pollinating insects: bees and bumblebees.

Diseases of garden lingonberry

Garden lingonberry is rarely damaged by pests or diseases. From insects, leaf rollers and heather leaf beetle can annoy her. For preventive purposes, it is necessary to treat the plants with an insecticide, for example, phytoverm, in early spring.

Of the diseases, rust and late blight can occur. Preventive treatments with phytosporin, alirin and gamair can help.

Conclusion

Lingonberry garden - a plant known for a long time, but relatively new for cultivation in cultural conditions, a plant that, nevertheless, can successfully fit in and decorate the look of any personal plot.

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