Cranberries and Blueberries: Planting the Simple Superfoods
Posted by Unknown in Blue Berry, Cherries and Berries, Cranberry, Gardening on Monday, 13 May 2013
John Cushnie
Telegraph
If you know what's good for you, plant cranberries and blueberries.
They are full
of flavour and, more importantly, chock-a-block with all those seemingly
essential ingredients for a long and healthy life. They can be eaten
fresh from the plant, used in scones and cakes or dried. To top all
that, they are easy to grow.
These are the
plants for the gardener with a drainage problem, as their ideal
conditions are "swamp-like". The soil must be acid with a pH of less
than 5.0.
For
cranberries, dig a hole 40cm (16in) deep and line the base and sides
with plastic sheeting. Fill with a peat-based or ericaceous compost and
mulch with 5cm (2in) of sawdust or wood shavings. Punch a few small
holes in the sides of the plastic just above the bottom to allow water
to seep out.
Wherever
possible use rain water to thoroughly wet the compost and trample it
like grapes until the soil is saturated. Blueberries will succeed in
moisture-retentive, acidic soil that doesn't dry out in summer.
Both plants are hardy. They prefer a sunny site but will tolerate light shade and can be grown in containers.
Best varieties
My favourite
cranberry is 'Early Black', which has a spreading habit, evergreen
leaves and large dark blue, reasonably sweet fruit.
Blueberries are
bushy shrubs with a height and spread of 1.2m-1.5m (4ft-5ft). The
white- or pink-tinged flowers appear in spring followed by the sweet
blue-black berries. Growing more than one variety ensures
cross-pollination and good yields.
'Bluecrop' is
the most popular variety but for flavour try 'Herbert'. 'Chandler'
produces large, sweet berries. A new variety, 'Brigitta Blue', has
large, well-flavoured fruit that ripen late.
Planting tips
Container-grown
plants will establish more quickly than bare-root ones. Cranberries are
planted 45cm (18in) apart. Add a handful of bone meal to the planting
hole.
Plant
blueberries 2m (6ft) apart. Protection from birds is essential.An annual
dressing of a balanced, general purpose fertiliser in spring and a deep
mulch of well-rotted, farmyard manure will encourage growth and
flowers. Try to water with rain water.
Pruning and propagation
Prune
blueberries in late winter, removing the oldest branches close to the
base of the bush, or cut back to a young, sturdy, upright stem. They
fruit best on two- to three-year-old branches. Removing branches that
have fruited allows light to penetrate.
Cranberries and
blueberries are seldom attacked by pests or diseases, are resistant to
virus diseases and will crop heavily for at least 10 years.
To propagate
blueberries, take softwood cuttings in early summer and root in seed
compost with extra grit. Cover the pot with a polythene bag. The
cuttings will be ready for potting within 4-5 weeks. Cranberries are
propagated in late summer using semi-ripe cuttings and may be over
wintered in a gritty compost in a garden frame or on a windowsill.
Where there are low branches both fruits will root by layering them with the stems pegged into the ground.
