Cranberry

Plant Description

A beautiful ornamental shrub, the Cranberry provides the garden with clusters of tiny, light pink, bell-shaped flowers in the spring and edible fruit for both humans and birds in the fall. As this plant loves acidic soil, it is most at home in the woodland garden. Originally native to the North Eastern United States and Canada, it can live in a variety of climate zones.

The leaves are narrow, measuring ½ to ¾ inches. They are widely spaced, leathery and sharp pointed, with rolled over edges. The leaf color is a dark green on top with a waxy grey underneath. The stems are slender and can either be finely hairy or smooth and a darker brown or black color. The flowers are similar to shooting stars and can be solitary or in clusters of two and three. Each flower resides on its own long slender stem, standing upright from the plant’s base. The berry fruit can range in color from pale pink to dark red and are quite small, but look oversized when clustered on the delicate features of the plant.

Growing Conditions

The plant height ranges between two to six inches, spreading and rooting to an indefinite width. In colder winter climates, the leaves will turn coppery or purplish in color, but do remain evergreen year round. Once established, the Cranberry is a relatively low maintenance, fruit-bearing groundcover.

Cranberries thrive in wetlands and bogs; therefore, they need an ample supply of water. Plant them two feet apart, in a sunny moist part of your yard. Keep the soil slightly acidic, healthy, and weed free. Within three years the plants will begin to spread and bear fruit. Once established in an appropriate situation, this vine-like shrub can live for a century or longer.

Cranberry in the Garden

Backyard gardeners enjoy cranberry as both a desirable full sun groundcover and as part of a fruit and vegetable harvest. As a low creeping plant, it can cover a large open area with no need for mowing. The berries are not only for the holidays! They are high in vitamin C, low in calories, and have been shown to reduce the risk of selected health problems.

Some backyard gardeners have even begun to create their own bog gardens. In some cases the bog is an extension of a pond or designed to create a pond-like atmosphere without the complications of a body of water. Cranberry plants are an excellent choice for this sort of garden improvement as they thrive in bogs and wetlands.

The best way to start your own bog garden is to develop a bed especially for cranberries. The best size is a 5x10 foot space, although the length can vary. Then you can reach in easily from both sides. Thus, you do not have to step in the bed to weed or pick fruit. The best soil is a mixture of peat moss and sharp sand. For fertilizer, use fish emulsion. You can find additional growing instructions at www.cranberrycreations.com.

Commercial Growers

Cranberry Harvest

The harvesting of cranberries for commerce and food actually began centuries ago. Natural bogs developed from glacial melting, over ten thousand years ago. Coastal Indian tribes often gathered the local cranberries that lived in the wetland areas and cooked them for food. They were also eaten fresh and traded for other essential items.

Current commercial production of cranberries is performed in bogs, both natural and man-made. These bog farms are large beds or wetland areas that can easily be flooded manually. By raising the water level, farmers can control weeds and pests, plus easily harvest the fruit as it floats to the top. In addition to the water requirements, bog farms also require these specific soil layers for maximum plant health:

• Sand
• Peat
• Gravel
• Clay

For commercial harvesting to be successful, all these important environmental factors must be in place. With the appropriate soil, geology, climate, and water supply, a dedicated farmer can harvest this perennial crop for well over a hundred years.

Many varieties of Cranberry harvests exist. The four main types are:

• Ben Lear : large, deep burgundy to purple fruit, early ripening.
• Early Black
• Stevens – A USDA Hybrid
• Howes: small to medium size red-burgundy fruit, mid season harvest.

They are grown for commercial produce in five main states:

• Oregon
• Washington
• Massachusetts
• Wisconsin
• New Jersey