Content
- Planting forest blueberries in the garden
- The special location requirements of forest blueberries
- Forest blueberries in comparison to blueberries
- Forest blueberries as easy-care groundcover
- Tips & Tricks
Planting forest blueberries in the garden
In mid-summer, forest blueberries can be collected as an aromatic fruit treat in between on shady forest walks. However, collecting in the forest can be dangerous.
The special location requirements of forest blueberries
Forest blueberries grow mainly in moorland areas, where you should pay attention to swampy spots and protruding roots when walking. However, berries picked in the forest should never be washed unwashed on the spot, since they can be contaminated with pathogens of the fox tapeworm, which is also dangerous for humans. If you want to reduce forest blueberries to avoid this danger in the fenced garden, you will need to replace a lot of soil material in most cases first. Forest blueberries need an acidic soil with a pH between 4.0 and 5.0 for healthy development as well as cultivated blueberries. These can be obtained by making a more wide than deep excavation at the planned site and filling it with peat and similar acid soil substrates.
Forest blueberries in comparison to blueberries
Even with the best of care, you will never be able to obtain from the plants of the wild blueberry berry the large harvest quantities as with the specially cultivated blueberries. Since forest blueberries are usually not much higher than 40 centimeters, the fruit content of the fruit ripening on the branches is relatively limited. However, the fruits have a more aromatic taste than the larger cultivated blueberries and have the characteristic of blueberries, tongue and fingers blue-colored juice. In contrast to the sun-loving cultivated blueberries, you should rather plant forest blueberries in partial shade. Once properly planted, forest blueberries do not need any additional irrigation or cutting, unlike blueberry berries.
Forest blueberries as easy-care groundcover
Through their long-term extremely moderate growth and the natural Vermehrungsfreudigkeit blueberries are suitable for use as a cost-effective ground cover on shady gardens and on slopes. If you find good conditions, forest blueberries multiply in the following ways:
They shield the light from the ground and thus prevent the emergence of high-alert weeds. As a pleasant side effect, the fruit can be harvested in mid-summer directly around the house.
Tips & Tricks
Forest blueberries are rare as plants to get in the garden shop. Before you use wild plants from a forest, you should ask the forest owner or the responsible forestry office for permission.