The flower heather is a beautiful perennial plant. At the moment, the number of varieties of heather is quite large - about three hundred varieties. Among them there are those whose height reaches only ten centimeters, but there are also higher ones - thirty-forty centimeters. The color of heather flowers is white, pink, purple, dark red. All these shades are very majestic and beautiful. Heather leaves also have not only the usual green color, but can be orange, gray, even red. Blossoms heather in late summer or early-mid-autumn. In addition, a huge plus is that the flowering lasts for several months, that is, heather will long enough to please you with its beautiful flowers. Heather in your garden will be his wonderful decoration. So let's see in more detail how to grow heather.
Heather: how to plant?
Soil heather loves acidic sand, as well as peat, but in general to the soil heather is not particularly demanding. But when planting, if your soil is not acidic, it is better to add sour peat to it, and drainage is also a prerequisite, since heather is badly disliked when water stagnates.
The place for planting is preferably sunny, since the heather loves the light very much, but a light penumbra is also suitable. Planting heather is best at the beginning of the last month of spring or in the early to mid-autumn. After planting, it is desirable to mulch the soil with pine bark. It will be pleasing to the plant, and will also become its good protection from weeds. Also, immediately after planting, heather must be well watered.
Since the heather reacts very badly to the transplant, then choose a place in the light of the fact that you will not transplant the plant. In general, choose his home immediately for a long time.
Heather: care and cultivation
So, caring for a heather is simple enough, but it is necessary to follow all the rules of caring for it so that the heather lives with you as much as possible, considering that in the gardens the heather and so lives much less than in the natural environment of its growth.
- Watering the heather . Sprinkle heather, when there is a need, that is, there is no irrigation system. But when watering, you need to be careful - water should be poured clearly under a heather bush, trying not to fall on the plant itself, because of the moisture on its leaves may develop such an unpleasant disease as gray rot.
- Pruning heather. Pruning is almost the most important and the main part of caring for heather. There are no rules for pruning, you only need to trim the dried stems of the plant. After pruning, new stems appear faster and your heather bushes will become much denser, and therefore more beautiful and healthier. Carry pruning every year in the middle of spring.
- Heather manure . Fertilizer is also produced in the spring, immediately after you have trimmed. It is necessary to fertilize the heather with mineral fertilizers in moderate amounts.
- Wintering of heather . Heather tolerates well both heat and frost, but nevertheless shelter for the winter for heather is necessary. The best for this purpose is suitable dry foliage, which should cover the place around the trunk. You can also use peat instead of foliage. And on top of the heather you will need to hide with fir paws.
Reproduction of heather
And the last question that will be covered in this article is the reproduction of heather. The easiest and most convenient way to reproduce heather is airlifting. To do this, select on your heath the longest branch, bend it to the ground, fix it with a stone and sprinkle with earth. Very soon this branch will develop its root system and you will get a new young heather bush which, cutting off from the mother branch, you can safely transplant.
Also, flower growers have learned to grow heather at home.
So we figured out that planting and caring for heather - it's quite simple, and heather is a wonderful plant for your garden.