Gaultheria procumbens (?boxberry/ big berry )

Cheap as chips, Lucky

Thanks for that advice merlot - I will pop to the garden centre - I was given a substantial lot of vouchers for Xmas, so I should be able to stretch to a soil testing kit!

You can get soil testing kits from your local garden centre or from Amazon, Luckygirl. They are very simple to use and it's always useful to know your garden's soil type because although you can improve the soil in various ways it's a shame if expensive plants fail to thrive.

You can also google some of the established plants you already have to check the pH they require because if they are doing well you know the soil is right for them.

Thanks for that advice - might be better in the ground then maybe.

I have no idea about the acidity of our soil.

I can't grow it because it likes acidic soil but I do have a couple (gifts) in a large pot with ericaceous compost. If they get to big for it I'll plant them out and see if they survive with regular feeds of sequestrene.

They are OK in dappled shade and will tolerate hard frosts so long as not in an exposed site.

They are good ground cover in the right soil.

"G. procumbens spreads by means of long rhizomes, "
It seems to be good ground-covering shrub, so eventually would be best in open soil.
But not yet. Not sure about frost-hardiness.