Planting and caring for heather in open ground, propagation and preparation for winter

Some people decorate their gardens and summer cottages with heather. This is a herbaceous and perennial plant, the flowers of which can turn white or purple during flowering. Before planting the plant, you should familiarize yourself with the recommendations for planting heather in open ground and caring for the planted bushes.

Popular varieties of heather

The plant is divided into several large groups, which differ in the height of the bushes:

• Large ones. This is a tall coniferous heather that grows up to 70-80 centimeters in height. Large bushes are used to create flower arrangements in which tall and short flowers are adjacent to each other. The most popular large varieties are Allegro and Long White.
• Medium height. An ordinary shrub, the height of which does not exceed forty centimeters. Medium-sized seedlings are used to design a monochrome garden. Most often, Aurea, Boskop and Carmen are planted in the garden.
• Dwarf. A low-growing flower that grows to only 25-30 centimeters. Popular dwarf flowers are Silver Knight and Red Star.

Heather in garden design

People who grow heather in their country houses often use it to decorate their gardens. Experts recommend planting it in shaded and dark parts of the site, as its flowers can lighten them. In this case, it is necessary to plant them not one at a time, but 10-15 at a time. Many consider the creation of a heather garden to be the most successful design solution. At the same time, not only heather bushes are planted on the site, but also Erica. Despite the fact that these plants bloom at different times, they go well together.

Conditions for growing crops in an open area

To grow heather, you need to become familiar with the optimal conditions for its cultivation.

Lighting and location selection

Before planting heather in the garden, you will have to find a suitable place for growing it. Many people believe that this plant is unpretentious in care and therefore grows anywhere, but this is not so. The flower is undemanding to lighting, and therefore it can be planted in shaded areas that are not always illuminated by the sun. When choosing a suitable place in the garden, pay attention to how it is blown by the wind.

The site must be reliably protected from wind gusts so that the seedlings do not break from strong winds.

Optimal temperature

The plant has poor frost resistance and therefore it is better to understand in advance the optimal temperatures for growing it. People who have been growing heather for many years recommend growing it in winter at temperatures of about 5-10 degrees Celsius.

To protect the bushes from hypothermia, the soil is mulched at the end of autumn.

The optimal temperature in summer is considered to be values ​​that do not exceed twenty degrees above zero. Growing flowers near heat sources is contraindicated, since hot and dry air negatively affects growth and flowering.

Humidity

In order for the planted heather to grow and develop well, you need to monitor the level of humidity. In this case, special attention is paid to soil moisture. This is a moisture-loving plant that needs to be watered often. If the soil is too dry, the bush will begin to dry out. You also need to monitor air humidity. It is known that dry air negatively affects flower growth. Therefore, care must be taken to ensure that the air humidity is 80-90%.

Suitable soil

Experts advise planting heather in soils with a high level of acidity. If the acidity is too high, it is reduced with citric acid, peat or sulfur. You cannot grow bushes in alkaline soil, as they will quickly die.

The growth and development of heather is facilitated by micronutrients that should be contained in the soil. In order for the planted bushes to grow better, sand with peat and sawdust are added to the ground. You can also add 60-70 grams of sulfur to each plant, which accelerates the growth of heather.

The best and worst neighbors

People who have never grown heather are interested in which plants are best to plant it with. All varieties of northern orchids are considered good neighbors. If you plant them together with heather bushes, they will begin to bloom several weeks earlier than usual. Moreover, they will bloom 5-8 days longer. They can also be planted near pulmonary gentians, which bloom in early summer. Such flowers are considered tall, and therefore they should grow behind the heather.

Vegetable crops are considered bad neighbors because they consume a lot of nutritional components and slow down the growth of flowers.

Methods of planting and propagation of crops

There are four methods of flower propagation, the features of which should be familiarized in advance.

Bends

Many gardeners decide to plant heather using offsets. To do this, you need to dig a shallow hole near one of the bushes, then free one of the lower branches from the leaves and dig it into the hole.

You can secure the branch using regular wire or a strong metal pin. The upper part of the branch must be lifted and tied to the support.

When the shoot is dug into the ground, it should be watered with warm water.After a few weeks, the branch will be completely rooted, and it can be cut from the parent bush and transplanted to another place.

Apical cuttings

Another common propagation method is planting apical cuttings. They are cut from old and already woody branches of the plant in the twentieth of August. For planting, branches that do not have flowering shoots are cut off. Cut branches must be planted in containers with a soil mixture prepared from soil and peat. After planting, they are thoroughly watered and fed with superphosphate and urea.

Seedlings

Some gardeners prefer to propagate heather with rooted seedlings. This is done in the spring, but sometimes they are planted in early autumn. To plant, you need to buy seedlings in specialized stores that sell flowers. Before planting, all seedlings must have their roots straightened out so that they are not bunched together.

If this is not done, the planted seedlings will not be accepted well and will die. The plant should be planted in a shallow hole 10-12 centimeters wide. First, warm water is poured into it, after which the plant is planted.

Dividing rhizomes

This method of propagating seedlings is carried out at the end of summer, two weeks before the beginning of September. First you need to carefully dig up the bush and remove it from the ground. Then all drying shoots are cut out from the dug plant and the rhizomes are divided into parts. The separated roots are planted in dug holes and watered.

Optimal timing for planting and transplanting crops

Before planting flowers, you will have to figure out the optimal timing for planting them in the garden. Experts recommend sowing in the spring, when the air warms up to 10-15 degrees.Therefore, gardeners most often plant heather in the second half of April or May. Some people decide to plant in the fall. The most suitable time for this is October and the end of September.

Heather care depending on the time of year

In order for heather to grow well and bloom for a long time, it must be properly cared for.

Watering and loosening the soil

This is a moisture-loving flower that needs abundant watering. If you do not regularly moisten the soil, the heather bushes will not develop well. To moisten the soil, you must use acidified warm water. Therefore, before watering, it is mixed with citric acid or apple cider vinegar.

In spring, flowers are watered at least once every 7-10 days. In hot summers, the procedure is carried out every three days.

Fertilizer application

To ensure abundant flowering and improve the development of seedlings, special fertilizers are added to the soil. Heather does not need to be fed very often; once a season is enough. The best food for a flower is a nutrient solution made from bird droppings diluted in water. It should be used at the end of May or June. You need to water the bushes carefully so that the fertilizing liquid does not accidentally get on the surface of the leaves.

Diseases and pests: prevention and treatment

Heather bushes are known for their resistance to common fungal and viral diseases. However, despite this, sometimes they can get sick. Most often this happens due to improper care of the bushes or planting in contaminated soil. To treat and prevent the development of diseases, seedlings must be periodically treated with fungicides and chemicals.

Pruning and replanting

To prevent premature aging of the bush, it is necessary to periodically prune it. The procedure is carried out in September or October, when flowering completely ends. All leafy shoots of the plant are pruned. First of all, the shoots on which yellow leaves appear are removed. It is also necessary to cut off stems whose length exceeds ten centimeters.

Heather seedlings need to be replanted to another location once every five years.

Heather after flowering: how to care

When the plant has flowered, you need to make sure that it has enough nutrients for the winter. To do this, the bushes are fed with organic and mineral fertilizers. The plant is fed with manure, peat and a solution made from bird droppings and leaf humus. Also, potassium-containing and nitrogen-containing fertilizers must be added to the soil.

The nuances of preparing plants for winter depending on the region

In order for the plant to survive the winter normally, it must be prepared for wintering in advance.

In the Urals and Siberia

People who grow heather in Siberia and the Urals must prepare it for winter frosts. Preparation begins in early autumn, before severe cold begins.

If you start preparing too late, the plant will not survive the winter.

To ensure that wintering goes smoothly, the surface of the soil near the bushes is covered with pine branches and sawdust.

In the middle zone and Moscow region

The climatic conditions of the Moscow region and the middle zone are ideal for heather seedlings. However, even when growing flowers in these regions, they must be prepared for wintering. Before frost, they are covered with dried grass, fallen leaves or tree branches.

In the Volga region

Seedlings grown in the Volga region also need to be covered for additional protection from frost. You can cover them with plastic wrap, dry branches, hay, straw or leaves.

Mistakes and problems when growing heather

People who have not planted heather before may make mistakes when growing it. A common mistake that many people make is planting flowers in the wrong soil. Because of this, seedlings develop slowly and rarely bloom. Also, beginners often care for the seedlings incorrectly, rarely water them and practically do not feed them. All this negatively affects the growth and flowering of the crop.

Conclusion

To decorate a summer cottage or garden, some people plant a plant such as heather. Before planting a flower, you need to understand the characteristics of popular varieties, as well as familiarize yourself with how to plant it correctly and care for planted shrubs.