Lowbush blueberry
Vaccinium angustifolium · Ericaceae
The wild blueberry of the Northeast: a low, twiggy mat with white bells in spring, small, sweet berries in summer and brilliant scarlet leaves in autumn.
- Size
- 16 in tall, 24 in wide
- Zones
- 2 to 7
- Light
- Full sun to part shade
- Flowers
- Early May to late May
- Pets
- No toxicity recorded
- Job in a bed
- Carpet
A bed built around lowbush blueberry
The planner designed this bed around lowbush blueberry 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 lowbush blueberry stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Lowbush blueberry × 3, white
- 2 Carpathian bellflower 'Blue Clips' × 10, blue
- 3 Leadwort × 19, blue
- 4 Purple milkweed × 3, purple
- 5 Brown-eyed Susan × 3, yellow
- 6 Inkberry 'Gem Box' × 1, dark green leaves
- 7 Glory-of-the-snow × 5, pink
- 8 Daffodil × 7, orange
Why this plant
- The only bells. The others are open bowls, dense clusters, flat plates and others. Shape reads at a distance, where colours blur.
- The only white. White sits between stronger colours and calms them.
- Part of the bed's structure. Shrubs and grasses keep their shape when the perennials die down. So does inkberry 'Gem Box'.
Why here
- Under the taller plants. It runs back between them as living mulch: there its job is to cover the soil, not to be looked at.
- 3 plants in one group. Massed, one kind reads as a single shape. Scattered, it would look spotty.
Why now
- In flower for four weeks. From early May to late May.
- Fills a gap. For three of those weeks nothing else on the plan is in flower.
Planned as an English border: 6 of the 6 groups (100%) are drifts, longer along the bed than they are deep. Cool colours (blue, purple and pink) with yellow and orange as the warm notes, and white to calm things between them. There is more leadwort than anything else, 19 plants in all.
The planner's own design check: 13 Excellent, 4 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 lowbush blueberry goes in a border
At 16 in it belongs at the front of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is short (12 to 18 in).
Its job: carpet. A groundcover planted in threes and fives to cover the soil: along the front, and just behind it.
A groundcover that feeds you and then turns the ground red in October. It must have acid soil, and spreads slowly by underground stems.
- Native groundcover for acid, sandy soil
- Edible fruit
- Autumn colour
What to plant with lowbush blueberry
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Bearberry: in flower together for four weeks, from early May; low enough (8 in) to stand in front of it.
- Heather: carries the spot on into mid September; spires rising out of its mound.
- Christmas fern: its dark green leaves are a setting for the flowers, before and after.
Questions about lowbush blueberry
Does lowbush blueberry need sun or shade?
Lowbush blueberry 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 ordinary well-drained soil, on the lean side, with no feeding, and little watering once settled.
What zones does lowbush blueberry grow in?
USDA zones 2 to 7. It is hardy to zone 2, which means it survives winter nights down to about −40 °F (−40 °C).
Above zone 7 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 lowbush blueberry flower in my zone?
In zone 5 it flowers early May to late May. As a spring flower it moves about a week for every zone: earlier where it is warmer, later where it is colder.
| Zone 3 | Late May to mid June |
|---|---|
| Zone 4 | Mid May to early June |
| Zone 5 | Early May to late May |
| Zone 6 | Early May to late May |
| Zone 7 | Late April to mid May |
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 lowbush blueberry be planted?
18 in (45 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 16 in (40 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many lowbush blueberry plants do I need?
At 18 in apart, set out in staggered rows:
- 5 to fill 10 square feet (about 1 m²)
- 7 for a single row 10 ft (3 m) long
- 17 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 three in one group.
Is lowbush blueberry poisonous to dogs and cats?
No toxicity is recorded for dogs, cats, horses or people, according to NC State Extension.
"Not toxic" is not "edible": a pet that eats a lot of any plant can be sick.
Do deer eat lowbush blueberry?
They may. NC State does not list it as resistant to deer or rabbits. Where they visit, protect it, or plant it among ones they avoid.
What flowers after lowbush blueberry?
Lowbush blueberry is over by late May. These start as it finishes and carry the same spot on, so it never goes flat:
- Lady's mantle: from late May to early July, 18 in tall.
- 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 lowbush blueberry look like in winter?
Lowbush blueberry drops its leaves and stands as bare branches. That is when to see its shape, and to prune it if it needs pruning.
Is lowbush blueberry good for bees and butterflies?
Lowbush blueberry is visited by bees, specialist bees, butterflies and songbirds.
It is native to the United States and Canada.
More Vaccinium
- Highbush blueberry Vaccinium corymbosum
- Lingonberry Vaccinium vitis-idaea
In these guides
- Pet-safe plants for a sunny border
- Pet-safe plants for shade
- Native plants for shade
- Garden plants native to Canada
- Plants for butterflies
- Plants for bees
- Plants that feed garden birds
- Groundcover plants
- Shrubs under 4 feet for small gardens
- Plants for a white garden
- Plants with purple and burgundy leaves
Zone guides: Zone 3 · Zone 4 · Zone 5 · Zone 6 · Zone 7
In flower in: May
Every fact on record
- Type
- Shrub (groundcover)
- Size
- 16 in (40 cm) tall, 24 in (60 cm) wide
- Plant
- 18 in (45 cm) apart
- Height class
- Short (12 to 18 in)
- Place in the bed
- Front
- Flowers
- Early May to late May; hanging bells; white
- Leaves
- Fine texture, deciduous; dark green, red
- Shape
- Mat-forming, spreading
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 2 to 7
- Light
- Full sun, part sun, part shade
- Soil
- Lean, well-drained
- Water
- Low
- Feeding
- None needed
- Family
- Ericaceae
- Comes from
- Northeastern North America, NC
- Attracts
- Bees, specialist bees, butterflies, songbirds
Checked against NC State Extension. 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.