PlantSowGrow
How to plant and care for Lingonberry (Ida)
Vaccinium vitis-idaea
🍓 Fruit
🔁 Perennial
A neat, evergreen dwarf shrub with glossy leaves, pink bells and tart red berries — two crops a year, in summer and autumn. Lovely in pots.
At a glance: harvest in August.
When to plant and care for it
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Harvest
Timed for a typical UK garden (last frost mid-April). The app uses your own town's frost dates.
Growing Lingonberry (Ida): what it needs
- Light
- Part shade · 6+ hours a day
- Watering
- Keep moist with rainwater — tap water is often too limey
- Soil
- Acid (ericaceous) compost or soil, pH 4.5–5.5
- Spacing
- 30 cm
- Height
- 30 cm
- In pots
- Grows well in containers
- Feeding
- Ericaceous feed in spring
- Hardiness
- USDA zones 2–7
Step by step
- On planting day
Plant
Plant 30 cm apart in weed-free, well-prepared soil enriched with compost, and water in well.
- 0–3 days after “Plant”
Water In
Water in with rainwater and keep moist.
- 7–21 days after “Water In”
Mulch
Spread 5 cm of compost or bark around the plants to keep moisture in and weeds down.
Every year
- AprilSpring Feed
Give a little ericaceous feed as new growth starts.
- AugustPick the First Crop
Pick the red berries for sauces and jams.
Starts from year 2.
- OctoberPick the Autumn Crop
The second, bigger crop ripens now.
Starts from year 2.
