🍒 Cranberry Planting Instructions

 

Cranberries are low-growing, hardy fruit plants that produce attractive red berries packed with flavour and antioxidants. They are ideal for gardens, raised beds, and containers and thrive in acidic growing conditions.

 

🌱 Planting Position

Choose a sunny position with acidic, moisture-retentive, well-drained soil. Cranberries prefer a soil pH of 4.0–5.5 and are well suited to ericaceous compost if your garden soil is not naturally acidic.

 

📏 Planting Distance

  • Plants: 30–45cm (12–18 inches) apart
  • Rows: 60–90cm (24–36 inches) apart

 

Cranberries spread gradually to form a dense, attractive ground cover.

 

🌳 Planting

  1. Soak the roots thoroughly before planting.
  2. Dig a hole large enough to accommodate the root system comfortably.
  3. Mix ericaceous compost into the planting area if required.
  4. Plant at the same depth as previously grown in the nursery.
  5. Firm the soil gently around the roots.
  6. Water thoroughly after planting.

 

💧 Watering

Keep the soil consistently moist, particularly during dry periods. Cranberries dislike drying out but should not sit in waterlogged soil.

 

🌿 Feeding & Care

Apply an ericaceous fertiliser in spring and mulch annually with pine bark, leaf mould, or other acidic organic material to maintain soil acidity and conserve moisture.

 

🍒 Harvesting

Cranberries are typically harvested in autumn when the berries develop a deep, rich red colour and feel firm to the touch.

 

🌟 Top Tip

Cranberries make excellent companion plants for blueberries as both enjoy similar acidic growing conditions.

 

English’s Fruit Nursery Tip

 

Cranberries are attractive ornamental plants as well as productive fruiting plants, providing glossy evergreen foliage, delicate flowers, and colourful autumn berries.