Gaultería, gaultery, Gothia, golteria - All this is the name of the same plant. It comes from the tropics, but has long been loved by our gardeners. If you decide to start this beautiful shrub on your plot, our article will be useful to you. In it, we will explain how to properly plant it and how to provide the right care.
Description
This evergreen plant lives in South and North America, Malaysia, East Asia, Australia, New Zealand. The genus includes small ground cover species up to 10 cm in height, shrubs 2.5 m and even six-meter trees. 
All representatives have elliptical or ovoid alternate leathery leaves. They bloom in the form of goblet, hanging white or pink flowers, collected in apical inflorescences or singly arranged. From the flowers there are spherical fruits - white, blue, pink, red.
Did you know? As part of the hauler, there is methyl salicylate, similar in its effect to aspirin. Perhaps that is why in North America from the eastern tea berries (as it is called there) prepare tasty and medicinal drinks. They help with headaches, rheumatism, sore throat.
Kinds
The most common types of wintergreen (around 180):
- The most common and available in our area - lateral lyingwith scarlet fruit and fragrant foliage. Frost-resistant small shrub with creeping shoots does not grow by more than 15 cm. Its homeland is North America.
- Gaulteria Mikel a little more than the previous one. It has upright branches up to 25 cm in length, and in diameter the shrub can reach about 65 cm. Leaves are dense, dark green; flowers are collected in the brush; fruits - small white balls.
- Miniature bushes up to 10 cm are hairy hairy or fibula. Pink flowers are bell-shaped and slightly drooping. Fruits are blue (blue). In Russia, this plant is rarely seen because of its poor winter hardiness.
- Homeland haulia narrow-leaved are Argentina and Chile. Her bushes 20-100 cm tall. Leaves with clearly visible large veins and jagged edges. White flowers have a pink sheen. Pink berries are round and fleshy.
- Bush height gaulterii prostrate does not exceed 9 cm. The flowers in her are miniature and bell-shaped. Fruits are small, red. Begins to bloom in July, and the berries ripen in August. Winter-resistant Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod, St. Petersburg are perfect for its habitat.
- Gaulteriya shallon has well-developed shoots, which is why it creates dense thickets. Its straight stems are about 50 cm tall. The berries are purple, after a while they turn black.
Features of growing
Now let's figure out how to properly plant this shrub.
The choice of location, lighting and soil
The plant does not tolerate a dense shade. If the ground is wet enough, it is better to opt for light, but at the same time closed from the wind places. The most suitable for this would be a plot with partial shade, for example, near deciduous and coniferous trees or shrubs, which, in addition to all, will protect the bush from strong winds.
It is grown, as a rule, on peat acid soils with a pH of not more than 5, well drained and loose. If you work on heavy ground (clay, loamy, etc.), remove the top layer by 25-30 cm, at the bottom lay out the drainage of gravel and sand, top it with peat (three parts), half-broken coniferous litter (two), sand (one ).
Important! Consider that in the ground where the wintering will grow, there should be no lime and no strong compaction of the substrate. She does not tolerate this.
Landing process
Put the haulieriya in early spring. In dense soil, seedlings are set at a distance of 22-26 cm from each other, in loose soil - at 38-40. The root neck should be flush with the ground or slightly lower (about 1.5 cm). The depth of the pits - 30-40 cm. Drainage - a layer of 12-16 cm.
Watering
Water it abundantly, but not often (twice a month, 6 liters of water per bush will suffice). When it is dry and hot outside, water more often, and more leaves are sprayed. 
Do it all you need in the evenings, after sunset. For irrigation, take soft, preferably rainwater.
It will be useful for you to read about how to make drip irrigation from improvised means or plastic bottles with your own hands, and also learn about the advantages of automatic watering.
Care
Next, we learn how to care for the plant to grow and bear fruit.
Dressing, mulching
In the spring the shrubs are fed with fertilizers. One of the best options is Kemira Universal (funds take 100 g per m² plot). Another option is a nitroammofosk (when digging up the earth, 40 g of granules are taken per 1 m² and evenly distributed over the surface).
Or you can take any other fertilizer with a high nitrogen content. In the middle of summer it is recommended to switch to nitrogen-free fertilizers.
In the fall, young plants are covered with a dry leaf, adults - mulch with peat or chips (layer - 9-10 cm). 
Cleaning and trimming
When loosening the land it is necessary to remove weeds that harm the development of shrubs.
We recommend you learn how to remove weeds from the garden, which herbicides will help get rid of them, what tool to choose to remove weeds from the roots and what lawn grass will help to destroy the weeds.
Weeding should be done only with hands, and the soil should also be loosened carefully so as not to damage the roots, since they are located close to the surface.
Before the beginning of spring growth, shoots need to be cut a little bit so that the plant can fully develop. And from the dry branches should get rid of as needed, completely cutting them off.
Wintering
In harsh winters without shelter, haulier can freeze or even freeze to death.
Important! In early spring, so that the root neck does not warm up, the shelter must be removed, and the mulch is moved apart.
But under the snow, it is able to winter well (even at 35 ° C below zero). Therefore, in the winter, a bush is covered with snow.
If the winter is not snowy, it will certainly be covered with spruce branches. Young planting is covered with dry leaves or peat. 
Diseases
Gaulteria is endowed with remarkable resistance to diseases and pests. The main thing is to plant it in an acidic soil and not to allow waterlogging. Then serious difficulties will not arise.
It will be useful for you to learn how to independently determine the acidity of the soil at the site, as well as how to deoxidize the soil.
Otherwise, it will die very quickly from rot or mismatch of soil pH. This is her main weakness.
Breeding methods
Shrubs can be propagated in different ways:
- Cuttings. It should be in June to prepare pieces of shoots 5-6 cm long and plant them in a film greenhouse (roots appear after 3-5 weeks). Serving clean in August. The sapling experiences the winter in the garden, however, before the frost, do not forget to mulch the earth with peat and cover the sapling with a spunbond (special covering material).
- Layering. This is the simplest method. Dig up the ground near adult shrubs a little and take the underground part with an above-ground escape. Divide the sprout into a maximum split with young shoots above or a bud with roots. They are planted in pots to grow, or on the garden.
- Seeds. Stratify the seeds for three months - put them in wet sand and put them in the fridge. Sow in a box, filling it with moistened soil (turfy ground and compost), without diving into the soil. Spray and cover with foil. The seedlings will germinate after 2.5-3 weeks. As the four true leaves appear, pick the saplings into the pots. After 2-3 years transplant to the site.
We recommend you read about how to prepare the compost with your own hands, as well as about its preparation in garbage bags.
As you can see, haultery is not a very difficult plant to care for. The main thing is to follow our recommendations regarding cultivation, and also not to be shy to consult with experienced gardeners - and then this beautiful bush will delight you with its appearance for more than one year.
