Lingonberry
Vaccinium vitis-idaea · Ericaceae
A low, creeping carpet of small, glossy, evergreen leaves, with pink bells in late spring and tart, bright red berries in autumn.
- Size
- 8 in tall, 24 in wide
- Zones
- 2 to 6
- Light
- Full sun to part shade
- Flowers
- Late May to mid June
- Pets
- Not checked
- Job in a bed
- Carpet
A bed built around lingonberry
The planner designed this bed around lingonberry when this page was made: a 12 × 6 ft (3.7 × 1.8 m) English border in zone 6, part sun. It chose the other plants from the 708 that suit those conditions, and says below why lingonberry stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Lingonberry × 5, pink
- 2 Bloody cranesbill 'Max Frei' × 8, pink
- 3 Foxglove beardtongue × 5, white
- 4 Garden phlox 'Jeana' × 3, pink
- 5 Arborvitae 'Mr. Bowling Ball' × 1, grey-green leaves
- 6 Blue-eyed grass × 11, blue
- 7 Fumewort × 10, purple
Why this plant
- The only bells. The others are open bowls, spires and dense clusters. Shape reads at a distance, where colours blur.
- Part of the bed's structure. Shrubs and grasses keep their shape when the perennials die down. So does arborvitae 'Mr. Bowling Ball'.
Why here
- On the front edge. At 8 in it frames the bed without hiding it, and it is in leaf all season. It finishes 59% of the edge.
- 5 plants in one run. An unbroken run of one kind gives the edge a clean line.
Why now
- In flower for four weeks. From late May to mid June.
- Fills no gap. Every week it is in flower, at least three other kinds are too. It thickens a season that is already full.
- One of two evergreens. They are what the bed has to show from November to March.
Planned as an English border: 7 of the 8 groups (88%) are drifts, longer along the bed than they are deep. Pink, blue, purple and white make a cool, restful scheme. Neither end outweighs the other: the visual weight is split 50 to 50, left to right.
The planner's own design check: 12 Excellent, 5 Good. It flags one thing to watch: Nothing on this plan is highly poisonous or an aggressive spreader.
Open this bed in the planner Change its size, the sun or the style, move plants about, or swap one for another.
Where lingonberry goes in a border
At 8 in it belongs at the front of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is low (6 to 12 in).
Its job: carpet. A groundcover planted in threes and fives to cover the soil: along the front, and just behind it.
An edible, evergreen groundcover for acid soil in cool climates. The berries are the lingonberries of Scandinavian cooking. It will not stand heat or lime.
- Edible evergreen groundcover
- Acid soil under blueberries
- Cool-climate woodland edges
What to plant with lingonberry
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Lowbush blueberry: in flower together for two weeks, from late May; tall enough (16 in) to stand behind it.
- Highbush blueberry: in flower together for two weeks, from late May; tall enough (6½ ft) to stand behind it; happy in the same moist soil.
- Wintergreen: takes over when it finishes, flowering from late June; low enough (5 in) to stand in front of it; happy in the same moist soil.
Questions about lingonberry
Does lingonberry need sun or shade?
Lingonberry grows in full sun (6 or more hours of direct sun a day), part sun (4 to 6 hours of sun, including some afternoon sun) and part shade (2 to 4 hours of sun, mostly in the morning).
It wants soil that stays evenly moist, on the lean side, with no feeding, and a good soak in dry spells.
What zones does lingonberry grow in?
USDA zones 2 to 6. It is hardy to zone 2, which means it survives winter nights down to about −40 °F (−40 °C).
Above zone 6 it struggles: the zones measure winter cold, but a plant's top zone usually means the summers are too hot or the winters too mild for it to rest.
Gardening in Canada? Use the USDA zone for your town: Canada's own zone map uses different numbers.
When does lingonberry flower in my zone?
In zone 5 it flowers late May to mid June. As a spring flower it moves about a week for every zone: earlier where it is warmer, later where it is colder.
| Zone 3 | Early June to late June |
|---|---|
| Zone 4 | Late May to late June |
| Zone 5 | Late May to mid June |
| Zone 6 | Mid May to mid June |
Worked out from Hopkins' bioclimatic law: spring arrives about four days later for each degree of latitude north, and one zone is roughly two degrees. A warm spring or a cold one moves any garden two weeks either way.
How far apart should lingonberry be planted?
16 in (40 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 24 in (60 cm), so a group knits into one patch.
It grows 8 in (20 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many lingonberry plants do I need?
At 16 in apart, set out in staggered rows:
- 7 to fill 10 square feet (about 1 m²)
- 8 for a single row 10 ft (3 m) long
- 21 to fill a 4 × 8 ft bed on its own
In a mixed border, plant it as threes and fives, along the front and just behind it.
In the bed above, the planner used five in one group.
What flowers after lingonberry?
Lingonberry is over by mid June. These start as it finishes and carry the same spot on, so it never goes flat:
- Wintergreen: from late June to late July, 5 in tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems (a recorded partner).
- Creeping thyme: from early June to mid July, 3 in tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems.
- Astilbe: from late June to mid July, 24 in tall.
What does lingonberry look like in winter?
Lingonberry keeps its dark green leaves all winter, so it is one of the plants that hold a bed together from November to March, when the perennials have gone.
More Vaccinium
- Highbush blueberry Vaccinium corymbosum
- Lowbush blueberry Vaccinium angustifolium
In these guides
- Native plants for shade
- Garden plants native to Canada
- Low plants for the front of a border
- Groundcover plants
- Evergreen shrubs for structure
- Shrubs under 4 feet for small gardens
Every fact on record
- Type
- Shrub (groundcover)
- Size
- 8 in (20 cm) tall, 24 in (60 cm) wide
- Plant
- 16 in (40 cm) apart
- Height class
- Low (6 to 12 in)
- Place in the bed
- Front
- Flowers
- Late May to mid June; hanging bells; pink, white
- Leaves
- Fine texture, evergreen; dark green
- Shape
- Mat-forming, spreading
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 2 to 6
- Light
- Full sun, part sun, part shade
- Soil
- Lean, evenly moist
- Water
- Moderate
- Feeding
- None needed
- Family
- Ericaceae
Checked against VASCAN (plants of Canada). Flowering times are for zone 5: later in colder zones, earlier in warmer ones. Toxicity and spread information is a general gardening guide, not veterinary or medical advice, and invasive status varies by region. If a person or pet eats a plant, contact poison control or a vet. Check your local invasive species list before planting anything with a spread warning.