How to Grow and Care For a
Heather Plant
Article about Heather Plants
by Steve Charles Habib
Heather
plants are hardy, colorful, low-growing perennial shrubs native
to the heaths, moors, and woodlands or Europe and Asia Minor. Well suited to
marginal pastures, heathers are low-maintenance plants that can thrive in
acidic soil with little fertilizer in and near-drought conditions.
The
evergreen plants provide year-round displays of color from flowers and leaves.
Depending on the type of heather plant, the flowers bloom between July
and November and come in pink, lavender, white, magenta, amethyst, purple and
red. If a gardener plans it right, a field full of different types of heather will remain colorful for a longtime,
with new plants blooming just when others begin to fade.
Just as
important as flower color is the foliage color, which can be
found in pink, red, copper, bronze, gold, silvery gray, and every shade of
green imaginable. They keep their color though the winter, breaking up the
dreary tans and browns of winter landscapes.
CLIMATE: The
colder, damper climates of the New England and the Pacific Northwest are well
suited to growing heather, however, and gardeners in the northern Midwest,
Great Plains, and Rocky Mountain areas should have fair success.
SOIL: The
heather plant will do just fine in rocky soil, making them good candidates for
coastal hillsides where few plants grow. Slightly acidic soil with a pH of 4.5
- 5.5 will work well for this plant.
SUN: As a
general guideline, heather plants should get four to six hours of sunlight
daily. So it is best to plant it in a place with enough sunlight throughout the
year. The more sunshine this plant receives, the brighter are its leaves and flowers. Not enough sun will cause the plant to
look leggy and dull.
SPACING:
When you are ready to start growing a heather plant, consider the space a
mature plant needs to fully develop. On average, these plants grow up to twenty
inches tall and three feet wide.
PLANTING:
The best time to plant the heather is in the spring or
beginning of fall. Seed, division and cuttings can start new heather plants. If
starting by cuttings, the best time to take them is in summer when the wood is
half-ripe.
WATERING:
After getting the plants into the ground, water them until the ground is moist.
Follow this watering ritual twice a week for a few months. As
with most plants, do not over water them. If the soil remains too wet the plant
will suffer and possibly die.
The heather
plant is hardy and resistant to insects, common diseases, and small burrowing
rodents.
Steve Habib
is an active gardener and researcher on the subject of growing and caring for a
variety of plants. To learn more about HEATHER PLANT visit here.
Related Post:
No comments:
Post a Comment