Growing Heather in a Scottish Garden
Looking for a reliable white Heather for the garden? Erica x.darleyensis Ada s. Collings is unlikely to let you down.
This Heather is said to grow well in soil which is either alkaline or acidic, quite unusual for Erica’s as most of them only thrive in soil which is acidic.
The large white flowers are produced in late Winter and are long lasting, often still looking good at the end April.
This white form is much loved by our youngest daughter who is a jewellery maker. She has a fine technique of embedding the white Heather into crystal clear resin making the Heather last forever.
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Erica blooms in Winter/Spring, Calluna growing in the mountains of Scotland is the late Summer bloomer.
I used to make the mistake of pruning back the late Summer Callunas after the blooms were spent. Not such a good idea in Aberdeen as flowering with some of them continued well into October. Pruning at a time when Winter was approaching meant the plants often got severely damaged.
Regarding pruning,This is how I managed to get the best out of Heathers.
The Spring flowering Ericas I cut back after the flowers went over, many of them in early April, this is also a good time to prune back the Calluna’s which bloomed in Summer/Autumn. You may find that some of the Ericas are still in bloom, its fine to leave them flowering before cutting back.
To maintain healthy plants its essential to start the pruning process in the first year after planting, otherwise they will become woody.
Cut back your Heathers quite hard making sure you do not go below the point where there is no green shoots.
Also useful to know that when you plant Heather dig them in a little deeper than you would normally do with the likes of perennials.
If after a few years you find some of the plants getting that splayed out appearance, dig them up and replant them a bit deeper, often works a treat.
Being generally acid loving, its worthwhile giving your Heather bed a mulch with ericaceous compost every second year in Spring.
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Heather bed beside our round garden as it was, planted three years ago
When we moved into this house in Aberdeen in the mid eighties Heather beds had become all the rage. It wasn’t until 2010 that we decided to give them a try.
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See how they filled in, two years after planting
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Nearing the end of last Summer we had become very pleased with this Heather bed beside the round garden, very soon we would be saying goodbye.
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Looks like we had become so obsessed with Heathers as we planted up the border in front of the kitchen window in a similar manner. This time they were partnered with Box Pyramids and dwarf Azaleas.
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Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I truly appreciate your
efforts and I am waiting for your further post thank you once again.
I normally feel reluctant to planting Heather Janet, mind you it can end up looking surprisingly good.
I have to admit that I although I love the sight of swathes of heather on the hillsides, I have never grown it in the garden. I suspect I would have given it a go here, if I didn’t have alkaline soil. Though your white heather is rather pretty and would probably quite like it – food for thought!
Worth giving them a try Deb.
I have never grown heathers, but seeing yours in your old garden certainly makes me want to give them a try! My problem is limited sunlight, though I do have a few areas that get plenty of sun. I have seen them in garden centers and admired them. Yours are an inspiration!
Spurge, thanks for dropping by. I guess Heather would struggle in your soil.
I’m jealous Alistair – heather does not grow in my area (heavy clay alkaline soil). I had a lovely one in a pot once! The soft colors and texture are wonderful. Enjoy.
Hope the snow clears soon Donna.
Pam, now you have convinced me to find a space in our new garden for them.
I have a gardening friend near here who grows heaths and heathers, so I’m sure they would survive in my garden in spite of thick clay — I would have to use a raised bed. I am leaning toward native plants these days, but my friend tells me that although heaths and heathers are not native they have many of the advantages that native plants offer… They are not invasive. They are drought tolerant once established in the garden. They do not require fertilizer. They provide year-round color in the garden. Your photos are lovely! There, I’ve convinced myself. P. x
I like heather very much, but it is so unreliable in our climate and mostly soils. I have a client that has more gravely soil and her heather has been returning the last few years. This year we will wait for the snow melt to see if it is still there. I like the texture of the plant too.
Jennifer, perhaps your Heather will survive in spite of the snow.
The heathers in your old garden as certainly a nice bit of inspiration. As an experiment I planted a heather late last summer. It will be interesting to see if I get to make use of any of your pruning advice. This winter has been especially harsh and it has been buried under several feet of snow for months now. I hope it makes it!
Great information Rick.
Unlike yourself Alistair, I planted heathers in the 70’s when, along with conifers, they were all the rage here, although they do seem to have gone out of fashion now. I have none left today as they have become the victims of changing ideas in the garden plus I probably neglected to treat them as well as they deserved. They are a nurseryman’s dream to propagate, all you do is bury the plant a few inches deeper, filling in the center with compost and every shoot will root giving you many rooted cuttings when you dig it up the following year.
So good to hear from you Vesna, I gave up on blotanical some time ago. I have to say they did a good job of bringing gardeners together.
Holley, surprised me also, seems there are hundreds of Erica s native to South Africa. Perhaps most of them are found growing in the cooler areas high up in the mountains.
I never thought that heather would take our hot summers, but now I wonder after reading Diana’s comment. Surely there’s a heather out there for me! 😉
Dear Alistair,
I have followed your blog via Blotanical, but the Blotanical stopped to work (I still don’t know if the new version of Blotanical is out.) So, today, I typed ‘Alistair, blog, gardening, Glasgow’ into my browser and manage to find your web site again! Can’t tell you how happy I am.
I realised that I am much behind with all the events and posts of yours so after I post this, I am going to browse your blog more thoroughly. I bookmarked the page, of course.
The heathers are beautiful but they need acid soil which I don’t have in my garden. I have only one heather bush that is over ten years old, but I keep adding peat and pine needles around it to low the soil pH.
Greetings from Croatia.
Vesna
Thanks Astrid, I will pass on your compliment to our daughter.
Its rather wet here in Cheshire Donna but the soil is on the acidic side so I guess we will try them out.
I have always loved the look of heather. Many try and grow them here but they do not like my wet clay soil much…but I do love your heather bed
Hi Alistair
I really love the heather. I hope you can plant it in the new garden. Any early bloomer is always such a treat.
Your daughter’s jewelry is beautiful – what a clever idea!
Thanks for dropping by Sharon and taking the time to comment.
lush!! /i have never seen such heathers gorgeous
Easy to make a mess of pruning Heather Annette, I have done it often enough.
Hi Alistair – lovely white heather. I will make a note of it. Good tips too about pruning heathers. I wish I hadn’t had to learn the hard way!
I should have done so Helene. We have an Alpine bed in the front garden which Myra is not fond of, looks like Heathers may find a place there, although I was keen to be a bit more adventurous.
Time sure passes quickly Frances.
Thanks Scotkat, I have lost the link to your blog, can you give me a reminder?
David,When they say moving house is one of the toughest things to do, boy do they mean it.
Diana, I had been reading recently as to how many Ericas come from your part of the world.
I have one poor embattled Erica baccans here. But when we move to False Bay I will try again – we have such a HUGE variety of indigenous ericas.
Those heathers looked lovely Alistair , your comments regarding saying goodbye made me think what my son said to me this week when my wife and I said we might move house .
He said you won’t move dad as you will not want to let someone else have your plants !
In a way he’s right .
Regards David
Looking good Alistair
hello Alistair, I remember you and Myra planting your heather bed, I can’t believe it’s 3 years ago, it turned out very nice, some beautiful plants and nice contrasts of foliage, Frances
Heathers look so lovely, I have thought of getting some for the bottom of my garden for ages. They certainly look their best in a raised bed like yours. Did you dig up some of them and take with you down to Cheshire?