In midsummer, wild blueberries can be picked as an aromatic fruit treat on shady walks in the forest. However, collecting in the forest can pose dangers.
How to plant wild blueberries in the garden?
Wild blueberries can be planted in the partial shade of the garden by creating acidic soil with a pH of 4.0 to 5.0 with peat (€23.00 on Amazon) and similarly acidic soil substrates. They are easier to care for than cultivated blueberries and are suitable as an attractive ground cover with aromatic-tasting fruits.
The special location requirements of wild blueberries
Wild blueberries grow primarily in moorland areas, where you should pay attention to boggy areas and protruding roots when walking. However, berries picked in the forest should never be eaten unwashed on site, as they can be contaminated with pathogens from the fox tapeworm, which is also dangerous to humans. If you want to grow wild blueberries in a fenced garden to avoid this danger, in most cases you will first have to replace a lot of soil material. For he althy development, wild blueberries, like cultivated blueberries, require acidic soil with a pH value between 4.0 and 5.0. You can obtain this by making an excavation that is more wide than deep at the planned location and covering it with peat (23. 00€ at Amazon) and fill up with similarly acidic soil substrates.
Forest blueberries compared to cultivated blueberries
Even with the best care, you will never be able to get the large harvest quantities from wild blueberry plants as you would from specially bred cultivated blueberries. Since wild blueberries generally do not grow much higher than 40 centimeters, the amount of fruit that ripens on the branches is also relatively limited. However, the fruits have a more aromatic taste than the larger cultivated blueberries and have the juice that is characteristic of blueberries and turns the tongue and fingers blue. In contrast to sun-loving cultivated blueberries, you should plant wild blueberries in partial shade. Once planted correctly, wild blueberries, unlike cultivated blueberries, do not require any additional watering or pruning.
Wild blueberries as an easy-care ground cover
Due to their extremely moderate growth, even in the long term, and their natural ability to reproduce, blueberries are suitable for use as a cost-effective ground cover in shady garden areas and on embankments. If you have good conditions, wild blueberries will reproduce in the following ways:
- Self-seeding
- Lowers
- Root runners
They shield the light from the ground and thus prevent the emergence of tall weeds. As a pleasant side effect, the fruits can be harvested directly around the house in midsummer.
Tips & Tricks
Wild blueberries are rarely available as plants in garden shops. But before you use wild plants from a forest, you should definitely ask the forest owner or the responsible forestry office for permission.