What does heather look like and how to grow it?

Heather belongs to the category of those plants that can grow almost anywhere. It is planted both outdoors in the garden and in flowerpots or pots. Therefore, gardeners often use ornamental shrubs to decorate their plots.

This plant belongs to the heather family. In nature, heather grows in forests and open meadows. Perennial shrubs are often found on mountain slopes. It grows well even on rocky soil. The perennial shrub is evergreen. It is small in size. Its stems are branched and covered with small sheets. Heather blooms from July to mid-autumn.

During the flowering period, the plant looks very beautiful. Heather inflorescences are racemose. Each of them has about 10-20 colors. They are small in size. The color of the buds can be pale pink or purple. Other colors are much less common. Heather very quickly captures new territories, displacing other plants from the site. Therefore, growing it on your site, it is worth controlling the process of flower reproduction..

There are many varieties of heather in nature. But there are the most common ones that are popular with gardeners.

• "Winter Chocolate". This is a low-growing plant that blooms from early summer to autumn. The green foliage of heather changes color to brown over time.
• Alpina. A beautiful tree-like shrub covered with bright green foliage. In summer, it is covered with small white flowers. Their smell is very pleasant.
• George Hunt. This plant is adorned with luxurious golden foliage. Against her background, summer white-pink flowers look very beautiful.
• Terry... This variety was developed in England. The plant is small in size. Its main feature is beautiful double flowers, collected in lush inflorescences. The plant is suitable for growing in the Moscow region. It feels great in partial shade.
• Garden... This heather tolerates all weather conditions well. He is not afraid of either drought or frost. The flowers of this plant are large enough. Its stems can be either low or high.
• "Boskoop". The main feature of this plant is the color range of the buds, which changes depending on the season. The foliage of this plant is golden in summer, and in winter and autumn it is orange with a pleasant copper tint.
• Wild... This type of heather can be found in pine forests. In addition, it often grows near roads. The plant looks unremarkable. But it is distinguished by its unpretentiousness to growing conditions. Therefore, even novice gardeners can plant it in their country house.
• Tree-like... It is one of the tallest plant varieties. Its foliage is bluish and elongated, and the flowers are white. Their smell is light and pleasant.
• Swamp... This type of heather is highly regarded by honey lovers. The scent of its delicate buds is sweet and very strong. The foliage is tiny and neat.
• "Sandy". This plant is easily recognizable by its lemon-yellow foliage. It stays bright throughout the year. The inflorescences of this heather are elongated in length.
• Carmen. The bushes of this variety grow up to 40-50 centimeters in height. His flowers are pink-purple. They remain on the bush from August to September.
• "The Snow Queen". This plant got its name due to the fact that it begins to bloom very early. The first buds on the shrub appear in January. They remain on the shoots until April. This plant is best planted next to primroses.
• Hamilton. This plant has beautiful double buds of a delicate pink color. They look spectacular against the background of green foliage. This variety of heather blooms from August to October. It is best to plant flowers on the north or west side of the site.
• Long White. This variety was developed by Dutch breeders. His flowers are white. They are collected in large inflorescences 20 to 30 centimeters long. The flowering of this variety of heather lasts until the first frost.

Planting heather on your site is quite simple. This can be done at any time of the year. Before planting, the soil must be fertilized with compost or peat. The soil on the site must be acidic enough. The ideal soil pH is 4-5. Typically, seeds are used to grow plants. This process takes a long time. But at the same time, seed germination is very good. The planting material is placed in containers filled with a mixture of earth, peat and sand. The seeds are laid out on the surface of the soil, without burying them into the ground. From above, the container is covered with glass and sent to a warm place.

In the first week after planting, future seedlings need regular watering. Water for irrigation of the soil should be used warm. The most convenient way to spray the soil is from a spray bottle. The first shoots will appear on the soil surface in about a month. At this time, the gardener needs to start hardening them. At this stage, the glass is removed, and the containers with the plants are left on the balcony or windowsill. When the seedlings grow up, you can start picking them. It is worth replanting plants in large flowerpots or in open ground after they are fully strengthened.

A shaded place is chosen for planting. It must be well protected from wind gusts. Before planting seedlings, the soil is loosened again. Young bushes are planted in shallow holes. If the soil on the site is clay, the bottom of the holes is covered with a drainage layer. After planting the seedlings, they are watered with warm water. Young plants take root quickly enough.

After landing on the site, the heather must be properly cared for.

• Watering and feeding... First of all, the plants must be watered regularly. The soil next to the seedlings should always remain well moistened. Irrigation water is usually used warm. It is very important not to flood the bushes. This can lead to the development of mold and fungal diseases, which can well kill young shrubs. Plants do not need special feeding. They are usually fed when the foliage becomes pale and the flowering decreases. Heather is usually fertilized in late spring. It is not recommended to use universal fertilizers for fertilizing. Especially if they contain calcium. Young plants do not need this element at all. As a rule, the soil next to the heather is sprinkled with fertilizer in granules. After fertilizing, the plants must be watered. It is best to use rainwater for this purpose.
• Mulching... Since the land on the site must be constantly moistened, gardeners usually mulch it. For this, you can use peat, sawdust or dry foliage. The mulch layer is regularly renewed. It should be thick enough. In this case, moisture in the soil will persist for a long time. Plus, the grower doesn't have to fight weeds.
• Pruning... The first two or three years after planting, the heather needs to be pruned. The grower needs to cut off a third of the stem. Do this with sharp scissors. You need to cut off the shoots after the end of the flowering heather. The inflorescences are cut at an acute angle. Correct pruning is very beneficial for young plants.She promotes their more abundant flowering next year.
• Wintering... For winter, heather is usually covered with a thick layer of mulch or spruce branches. The shelter reliably keeps plants from cold. Remove it in early spring. In warm regions, plants are covered with the first snow. Foliage, straw, or airtight sheeting should not be used as cover. Thus, you can only harm the plants.

Heather can be propagated in several basic ways.

• Seeds... The planting material is able to remain viable for many years. Therefore, the method is popular among many gardeners. Fresh seeds are planted in the soil without prior preparation. If they have been dried, they are wrapped in a damp cloth for 3-4 weeks before planting and transferred to the refrigerator. You can plant seeds both in open ground and in pots.
• Cuttings... Cuttings are commonly used to propagate mature plants. The twigs are prepared at the end of summer. Lignified shoots are carefully cut from the plant using a garden pruner. It is worth choosing for reproduction branches on which there are no inflorescences. In a deep container, you need to mix sand with peat. Cuttings are planted in this soil. Then watered regularly. Liquid fertilizers are added to the soil once or twice a month. In winter, cuttings are stored in a cool, dark room. In the spring, after rooting, they are planted in open ground.
• Root taps. Plants are propagated by this method in the spring. The first step is to choose a healthy plant. A strong green twig is separated from it. It is cleaned of foliage, and then bent to the ground. In the hole, it is fixed with a wire. A branch that is above the ground must be tied to a support at this time. A hole with a buried plant is regularly watered with warm water. In the fall, the branch can be cut off from the mother plant. A flower is transplanted to a new place only for the next year.
• By dividing the root system. It is worth dividing the bush at the end of August. The bush is carefully dug out of the soil, trying not to touch the roots. After that, the gardener needs to carefully remove the faded buds. The rhizome is divided into several parts. Each of them is planted in a separate hole, and then watered. After that, the plants are mulched with coniferous chips or peat.

Heather has good disease resistance. If you take care of it properly, there are usually no problems with its cultivation. But in some cases, the plants attack diseases.

• Gray rot. This disease develops in conditions of high humidity. The foliage of the ailing shrub quickly becomes covered with a bloom of white, then dies off. To cope with the disease, gardeners usually use proven fungicides. One of the most effective is Topaz. Heather should be treated with chemicals according to the instructions. As a rule, the spraying procedure is repeated several times in a row with an interval of a couple of days.
• Late blight... In a sick plant, individual shoots begin to wither. Over time, traces of rot appear on the stems. At the end, the plant dries up completely. For prophylaxis, plants are treated with Fitosporin. If the heather gets sick, it should be sprayed with "Ordan" or similar preparations.
• Root rot. This is another dangerous disease that develops in high humidity conditions. A sick plant shoots turn yellow. The plant stops growing. Its roots are covered with growths. It is recommended to dig up diseased bushes and destroy them immediately.
• Powdery mildew. Any gardener can recognize this disease. The foliage of the plant is covered with a white powdery bloom. Over time, it becomes denser. Bulky spots turn brown.To combat powdery mildew, "Skor" or "Fitosporin" is usually used.

Evergreen perennial is very often used to decorate garden plots.... Heather is usually planted on alpine slides. It goes well with both evergreens and regular flowers.

Curbs made from such plants also look interesting. In large areas, heather is sown with a continuous carpet. It looks beautiful at any time of the year.

Volumetric flowerpots or pots with flowers also look beautiful on the street.... Plants grown in such containers go well with multi-colored asters.