Contents
Cowberry garden, planting and caring for which usually does not require special skills from the gardener, is gradually gaining popularity in the middle lane. This berry gives an unusual and rich taste to most of the national dishes of Our Country. There is nothing difficult in growing this plant if you decide to plant it in your summer cottage.
Useful Properties
To date, the cultivation of lingonberries in summer cottages is done in order to derive certain benefits from this plant. It is very beneficial for human health due to the beneficial substances in its composition.
Lingonberries contain arbutin. This component is now very often added to various drugs. Arbutin has a positive effect on the human genitourinary system, helping to eliminate the inflammatory processes of the upper layers of the epithelium and mucous membrane.
The berries contain a large amount of B vitamins (B1, B3, B9 and B12). They help to improve the functioning of most vital systems of the human body, and also have a beneficial effect on the central nervous system. Therefore, it is useful to eat lingonberries with stress, neurosis. There is also vitamin C, but its amount is relatively small. It helps to strengthen the immune system, the density of muscle tissues and bones. Vitamin A improves eyesight.
The berries contain many different trace elements: iron, phosphorus, manganese, potassium, sodium and calcium. They support the functionality of all human organs. Ellagic acid, which is found in lingonberries, also has beneficial properties. Helps the work of the heart. Natural acid serves as an antioxidant and antiseptic. Therefore, this product can be used to relieve inflammation and remove harmful substances from the body.
A small amount of benzoic acid is a strong antiseptic, and chitinic acid helps to bring down the elevated body temperature.
Cowberries also contain tannins, which are not found in all foods. They reduce secretion in the gastrointestinal tract, strengthen the walls of the digestive system and eliminate inflammation.
Flavonoids improve metabolism in the body.
But also do not forget that, in addition to berries, lingonberry leaves can also be used. On their basis, various folk remedies are prepared, which have a directed effect on certain ailments. Lingonberry leaves, when properly prepared, can quickly reduce a person’s fever, help cleanse the liver of toxins and the lungs from harmful particles (for example, from allergens). Cowberry leaf juice fights tissue hyperemia well, removes worms from the body, strengthens blood vessels.
The foliage of this berry can significantly increase the effect of antibiotic drugs. Previously, a folk remedy was prepared from them, which was given to children for fever.
Medicines at home are prepared in the form of decoctions and even ointments.
Given the wide range of opportunities and positive properties that lingonberries can provide, they are now increasingly grown in their private sector or cottages.
Video “Features”
From the video you will learn about the features and useful properties of lingonberries.
Popular varieties
The largest volumes of lingonberries are currently grown in America and Europe. Of course, there are varieties that are more adapted to the respective climate. Now there are about 20 different varieties of berries, but not all of them are popular. Some of them are quite capricious and whimsical to certain weather conditions or climate, some are vulnerable to diseases and insects. Therefore, for large-scale cultivation, planting of crops is carried out by individual species that have already been tested for years.
From a medical point of view, all varieties are equally beneficial to human health, which cannot be said about other characteristics of lingonberries. They differ in color, yield, taste, etc.
Here are some of the more popular varieties:
- Coral. Variety Coral was bred in Holland. Its bushes grow up to 30 centimeters in height. The berries are very large, after ripening they become dark red. The taste is sweet and sour. Coral needs proper care, but the result should please you – a large harvest of juicy berries.
- Kostromichka. This variety was bred by domestic breeders. Such lingonberries are one of the largest berries of their kind, and the mass of one thing can reach 75-80 grams (this is a lot). This variety has an excellent yield, from one bush you can collect about one and a half kilograms of fruit.
- Sanna. Another popular variety from Sweden. The yield is average, but the seedlings are resistant to diseases and relatively unpretentious.
Preparing for planting
Planting lingonberries is an easy task. The main thing is to carry out all preparatory measures before landing. To begin with, you should carefully examine the planting material. It is advisable to buy seeds in specialized stores. You can immediately take lingonberry seedlings, but do not buy them at a spontaneous market, where you can be deceived by slipping diseased plants.
The most suitable soil for growing lingonberries is a peat and soft layer. It is better to give preference to acidic soil, where there are minerals and from 15% organic matter. In order for lingonberry bushes to give you a big harvest, they should be planted in an open area, where the sun’s rays freely fall during the daytime. The ground should not be too wet.
There will be more trouble if the plant is planted in clay soil or black soil. If you have just such a soil in your country house, then you will need to remove the top layer before proceeding with planting.
It is possible to fill the site with mixtures of river sand, sawdust and peat. Everything is taken in equal proportions, thoroughly mixed, and the beds on the site wake up.
Lingonberry bushes are planted in rows. Before placing them in the ground, it is advisable to soak the roots in a solution of potassium permanganate. This will destroy most of the pests and pathogenic fungi, the spores of which could get on the seedlings.
The distance between the bushes should be kept about 20-25 centimeters. This is necessary for more convenient care, and will also give more space for the lingonberry to grow. Between rows you need to observe a distance of 50 centimeters.
As seedlings, 1 or 2-year-old plants should be taken. Seedlings can be prepared in a greenhouse. The seedlings are buried 7 cm into the ground, then the soil is compacted, watered and mulched.
Care instructions
Having planted lingonberries in the country, you should ensure proper care for seedlings in order to get a good harvest at the end of the season. Of course, you can leave everything to chance – the bushes will grow anyway, but you can not count on a large number of berries in such a situation.
For care, you do not need to use any special measures or procedures. It is enough to follow the usual measures, as for most cultivated plants.
It is necessary to ensure sufficient watering of the land, but not to overdo it. Excess moisture can lead to rot. Lingonberries do not need much water, they love the sun.
Therefore, if there are tall trees near the beds that create a large shadow, then they should be pruned if possible. You should also transplant away other bushes that can oppress small lingonberry bushes.
When the earth is compacted, it should be loosened – only the top layer, so as not to dig up the rhizome. Place mulch on top.
Lingonberries are more vulnerable to diseases than insects. When signs of disease appear on the leaves, they must be immediately pinched off, cut off with secateurs or a knife. Affected leaves and shoots will need to be burned away from your site.
Additional fertilizing
To improve the taste and increase the volume of the crop, fertilizing can be applied to the soil. Organic humus, herbivore manure, wood ash, eggshells are suitable for fertilizer.
As mulch, it is recommended to use sawdust, needles, straw, tree bark or shavings. In the first two weeks, the plant needs to be watered regularly, then watering should be done as needed. Top dressing begins from the second year after planting.
Reproduction
Lingonberry can be propagated by seeds or cuttings obtained by separating part of the ground shoots with roots from the mother plant. Harvesting seedlings can be made from spring to autumn.
Cowberry garden, the care of which is quite easy, negatively tolerates both stagnant water in the area and drought, so you should be careful with watering the plant. Optimum is drip irrigation or small-drop irrigation, recommended twice a week. No more than 10 liters of water should be used per square meter.
For optimal moisture retention, the soil must be periodically loosened and mulched. Be sure to get rid of weeds; therefore, to prevent clogging of the site, it is initially required to provide the plant with mulch or modern covering materials. And also effective, from an aesthetic and environmental point of view, is softwood chips.
Video “Growing”
From the video you will learn how to grow lingonberries correctly.
