How to Grow Bilberries
Learn how to grow bilberries with this easy to follow gardening guide! A cousin to blueberries, bilberries are also called "European blueberries" and are packed full of antioxidants and vitamins!
Instructions
- Purchase container-raised bilberries instead of bare-root stock since they don't like to have their roots disturbed.
- Be sure to get at least two bushes for cross-pollination.
- Keep these containers in a cool and moist area until they're ready to be transplanted in the spring once the ground is workable.
- If you live a cooler zone, choose a planting area with full sun.
- If you live in a warmer zone, choose a planting area with more shade.
- Soil must be well draining and acidic for these berries to thrive in.
- Work the soil to a depth of 8 inches and make a hole as big as the bilberry container and twice as wide.
- Remove the bilberry gently from its container and place the root ball into the newly-dug hole.
- Cover up the bulb with soil and add a 2 inch layer of mulch around the plant.
- Water deeply.
- Bilberries require very little care, even less so than blueberries.
- No fertilization is required.
- Water only once the soil is dry.
- Allow to ripen on the shrub and harvest in autumn for sweet tasting bilberries.