🎨 AI-generated botanical illustration

🌱 Lingonberry (Cowberry)

Vaccinium vitis-idaea

berries evergreen groundcover shrub

☀️ Sun

full sun to partial shade

💧 Water

moderate

🗺️ Zones

[2,3,4,5,6,7]

🧪 Soil pH

4.0-5.5

🪴 Soil Type

well-drained, sandy, peaty

📏 Spacing

12-18 inches

📐 Height

6-12 inches

🤝 Companions (3)

🤝 Blueberry

Same acid-loving family (Vaccinium); lingonberry as groundcover beneath blueberries

🤝 Cranberry

Another Vaccinium; both acid bog-lovers; lingonberry handles drier conditions

🤝 rhododendron

Both ericaceous; lingonberry groundcover beneath rhododendron

⚠️ Keep Apart (1)

⚠️ plants needing alkaline soil

Lingonberry requires strongly acidic soil (pH 4.0-5.5); lime kills it

📝 Growing Notes

The Scandinavian cranberry — essential at every Swedish meatball dinner. An evergreen groundcover that's absurdly cold-hardy (zone 2, -50°F). Low-growing (6 inches) with glossy leaves year-round — beautiful even without berries. Needs acidic soil like blueberry.

🛒 Buy Seeds & Plants

Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds Johnny's Selected Seeds Botanical Interests True Leaf Market Burpee Territorial Seed Company

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