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Arctostaphylos uva-ursi, most sometimes called bearberry, is the proper edible floor cowl for anybody fighting poor soil or rocky soil circumstances of their panorama. Its widespread identify comes from what occurs to most of those crops – apparently bears love the fruit that the plant produces and can fortunately devour them in large volumes in fall as they’re fattening up for the winter.
This isn’t restricted to bears, both; many kinds of migratory birds will fortunately eat the berries. The brilliant crimson bearberry is edible for people as effectively! You’ll be able to add visible curiosity to any dwelling backyard with its darkish inexperienced leaves and pink flowers.
It’s perennial and is an exquisite, small-leaved floor cowl with crimson berries. The flowers aren’t dramatic, nevertheless it seems to be good as an understory layer round bigger shrubs in addition to simply merely as a canopy for an area in your panorama you don’t intend to stroll on (it has woody stems that don’t make it appropriate for a lot foot visitors).
This plant can carry out in each full solar and full shade, though it prefers full solar in most areas. The bearberry plant is the unsung hero of North America, feeding bears with its berries and appearing as a medicinal plant in Native American cultures for hundreds of years.
Fast Care Information
| Widespread Title | Arctostaphylos uva-ursi |
| Scientific Title | Widespread bearberry, kinnickinnick, bear’s grape, sandberry, barren myrtle, mountain field, and hog cranberry |
| Household | Ericaceae, the heath household |
| Peak & Unfold | 12 inches tall and as much as 3-6 toes large |
| Gentle | Full solar |
| Soil | Sandy, acidic soil |
| Water | Drought tolerant as soon as established |
| Pests & Illnesses | Winter burn, aphids, root rot |
All About Bearberry
Arctostaphylos uva-ursi can also be recognized by many different names equivalent to bearberry, kinnickinnick, bear’s grape, sandberry, widespread bearberry, barren myrtle, mountain field, and hog cranberry.
The bearberry plant is an evergreen shrub native to circumboreal areas around the globe equivalent to Canada, Finland, Russia, and so forth. It prefers northern chilly climates and does finest in USDA zones 2-6. Within the wild, their darkish inexperienced leaves are largely discovered on open slopes as they thrive in rocky soils.
Bearberry crops (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi) might be recognized by their woody stems, darkish evergreen leaves, pink flowers, and finally shiny crimson berries. It’s a slow-growing perennial floor cowl that spreads through floor rhizomes.
The Arctostaphylos uva-ursi plant grows in a mat which makes it useful for panorama erosion management, and to fill in areas in backyard beds. It would entice butterflies and different pollinators to your gardens with its urn-shaped flowers. In reality, it’s the host plant for a number of butterflies together with the hoary elfin and brown elfin.
In North America the bearberry plant has been used extensively by Native American tribes as a part of smoking mixtures, dried for tea, as an anti-inflammatory, and as an antiseptic. It additionally has astringent properties and has been used to scrub sores or small wounds.
Care
The Arctostaphylos uva-ursi plant is the proper species of floor cowl should you’re searching for a low-maintenance evergreen that grows in spring and flowers in the course of the summer season. It makes a beautiful addition to any backyard and can only a few necessities met, it can set up and also you’ll be capable of get pleasure from it yr after yr.
Solar and Temperature
Bearberry crops thrive in full solar, nevertheless, they’ll tolerate mild shade. That being mentioned, you’ll get essentially the most development, flowers, and fruit while you give your bearberry full solar, moderately than partial shade. As talked about above they do finest in USDA zones 2-6 and may tolerate chilly winter fall and climates. They tolerate the chilly so effectively that seeds can germinate in temperatures as little as 40 levels.
The bearberry plant itself does finest in a temperature vary of 40-77 levels Fahrenheit. As an evergreen shrub, the darkish inexperienced leaves are inexperienced year-round and don’t want safety from frost. They won’t, nevertheless, tolerate excessive warmth.
Water and Humidity
The bearberry plant is extraordinarily drought tolerant as soon as established and should by no means should be watered exterior of any precipitation that you simply obtain in your backyard. Because of this, it’s a nice landscaping choice for low water or xeriscaped gardens. It might tolerate each moist and dry rising circumstances, nevertheless, it is not going to tolerate standing water. Through the first yr of development make sure you water your bearberry crops to get them established, then you possibly can again off of watering.
Through the winter it isn’t essential to water this plant as it can get all of the moisture that it requires from any snowfall. Within the mid-spring and summer season months, they could require barely extra moisture to cope with the warmth. Partial shade additionally helps with dry soil.
Soil
In its native habitat, Arctostaphylos uva-ursi crops pop up in not too long ago disturbed or rocky soil and have a tendency to fill in slopes the place water drainage is plentiful. There it can type a sloping floor cowl. Bearberry will tolerate and adapt to many various circumstances, together with salt within the soil, nevertheless it is not going to tolerate a soil ph exterior of its most popular vary. It wants well-draining acid soil with a pH between 4.5-5.5.
Since it’s salt tolerant and thrives in sandy acid soil, this bearberry makes frequent appearances alongside coastlines stuffed with salt as effectively.
Fertilizing
Bearberry crops can survive in poor soil circumstances so fertilizing is just not completely vital. Nonetheless, should you’d wish to encourage your plant to unfold in a floor cowl vogue extra shortly a fertilizer with a barely increased nitrogen content material will just do that.
Chances are you’ll sacrifice some flowers and fruit to ensure that them to placed on extra inexperienced development and unfold. It’s necessary to not fertilize this plant greater than as soon as per yr as it may possibly simply be overwhelmed.
Pruning
Arctostaphylos uva-ursi doesn’t require pruning, however you might select to prune away lifeless wooden or make use of some mild pruning to reshape and type the plant and intensify its darkish inexperienced leaves. The very best time of the yr to prune this plant is in late spring or late summer season after the bloom time has handed. You’ll wish to be certain to depart the flowers on the plant to draw the butterflies!
Propagation
A bearberry plant might be grown from seed. Nonetheless, since it’s such a gradual grower, a significantly better choice for this floor cowl is to propagate it from stem cuttings. Fill a pot with sand-dominant soil. New crops might be began by slicing off a stem, dipping it right into a rooting hormone powder, after which sticking it into moist sand to root in spring.
If you happen to’re rising from seed it’s necessary to take into account that they’ll require chilly stratification to type sprouts. It’s advisable to retailer your seed within the fridge for 3 months earlier than planting it out within the backyard. Alternatively, you possibly can sow them direct into the soil within the late fall and they need to sprout from the bottom within the spring.
Troubleshooting
As talked about above, uva ursi may be very drought tolerant as soon as established, requires little to no fertilizing, no pruning, and is a really low upkeep inexperienced floor cowl planting that may fill and add curiosity to your panorama. There are just a few points value noting, nevertheless.
Rising Issues
The commonest rising drawback happens when the soil pH necessities should not met. Bearberry will present indicators of stress if the pH within the soil is simply too excessive. The leaves could flip bronze, it could stop to placed on new development, and should not type flowers in any respect. It’s necessary to notice that the leaves will flip bronze naturally in late fall shifting into winter, nevertheless, if the foliage is browning or reddened in the course of the spring and summer season this may be an indicator that the soil ph must be raised.
The acidity of the soil might be raised with a soil acidifier that may be discovered at your native nursery or massive field backyard retailer. Observe the directions on the again of the bundle.
Winter burn can is thought to have an effect on evergreens once they expertise lengthy intervals of drought alongside frozen floor within the winter which prohibits their potential to switch water misplaced by the method of photosynthesis. Because the burns unfold, leaves could flip brown and die.
Keep away from planting new crops in windy areas to stop the extra lack of moisture from the soil in the course of the late fall and winter or apply mulch to assist retain it. Prune away lifeless wooden if new development doesn’t reappear and type in your backyard within the spring.
Pests
Aphids are the commonest pest for these crops due to their succulent foliage and fruit. In a house backyard, the easiest way to battle aphids is to spray them off of your plant with a blast of water as quickly as you notice them.
To forestall them from returning and/or overtaking your crops creating an surroundings that features a wide range of flowering crops will entice pollinators and different useful bugs that like to munch on aphids, like ladybugs for instance. In additional extreme infestations neem oil or insecticidal soaps can even do the trick.
Illnesses
Root rot is the commonest fungal illness to have an effect on bearberry crops. They don’t wish to be in standing water so offering them with well-draining soil will assist keep away from this challenge. Planting them in the best soil helps too. Nonetheless, should you discover wilting regardless that it has acquired loads of water, mushy stems, and a scarcity of recent development then this may point out root rot.
Letting your plant dry out utterly earlier than watering it once more may also help starve the fungus. The appliance of copper fungicides has blended critiques in terms of treating root rot.
Ceaselessly Requested Questions
Q: Are bearberry berries toxic?
A: Sure and no. These fruits do comprise hydroquinone which might be poisonous and construct up within the liver. Because of this, people with liver problems shouldn’t devour bearberry. It’s suggested to not ingest greater than 10-20 grams of bearberry at anybody time. Signs of bearberry toxicity normally begin with nausea.
Q: What does bearberry style like?
A: It has been described as tasting mildly candy and crisp, just like an apple. The fruit is usually tasteless when eaten uncooked, however cooking them brings out its taste.
Q: What animal eats bearberry?
A: As its identify would counsel, bears! However different small mammals and birds eat them as effectively.
Q: Is bearberry a local plant?
A: Bearberry is native to circumboreal areas throughout the globe like Canada, Russia, Finland, and so forth.
Q: How do you plant bearberry?
A: It may be began from seeds in early fall (the seeds desire a interval of stratification) or propagated from stem cuttings.
Q: Is bearberry straightforward to develop?
A: Sure, its most necessary requirement is the right soil acidity, in any other case it is extremely low upkeep.
Q: Is bearberry an evergreen?
A: Sure it’s an evergreen shrub.
Q: Will bearberry develop in clay soil?
A: It might, however prefers sandy soils.
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