There are dozens of heather varieties in trade, around 250 are currently cultivated in Polish collections and nurseries.The nurseries reproduce the 70 most popular and resistant ones, and every year numerous new ones from selection and breeding.Varieties differ in terms of flowering, the earliest ones develop their flowers in June, such as 'Alba Praecox', 'Tib', and the late ones, such as 'Stefanie', only in October and November.
They also differ in height - from very tall, growing up to 70 cm, like 'Hollandia', to low, ground cover, like 'Mrs.Ronald Gray's 10 cm tall.They also have different colors of flowers and their filling - from full to bud.There are also those that do not develop flowers.
Care of the moor …
… is based on the annual supplementation of the acidic substrate, preferably with acid peat, and the mulching of plants with shredded pine bark. Heathers have very modest nutritional requirements, so you should use slow-acting multi-ingredient fertilizers, such as bone meal, horn meal enriched with micronutrients.Before the onset of winter cold, cover the plants with tunics or shading net.
The cover will protect the plants from drying out and freezing. An important care procedure is trimming faded inflorescences on heathers, preferably from the end of April to mid-May, shortening the shoots only by the length of the inflorescences.
Where and how to plant dwarf shrubs
An acidic reaction is the basic condition that must be met when growing heathers.Of course, in the place where we plan a heath, we have to remove permanent weedsAfter preparing the soil, we can start planting the plants.Shrubs are best combined in groups of one variety, then the color effect is clearly visible. It is best to plant 10 plants per 1 m².
Before planting, soak the roots in water for two hours, then loosen them. Heathers are planted at the same depth as they grew in pots.Shallow planting causes the root system to freeze.
Growing conditions
In the garden, choose a sunny and possibly dry place for the heathers, preferably with a moderately moist soil. The shrubs do not tolerate wet, heavy, and catchment soil - they dry up quickly on this one or two seasons.If we insist on setting up a heather garden in such a difficult place, remember to uplift the bed by at least 20-30 cm . First, let's drain the soil 10 cm thick, spreading a layer of gravel on the dug soil. Spread a 20 cm layer of cultivated soil on the drainage.
Interesting bud varieties
An interesting variety of heather are the so-called buds, non-opening varieties. As a result, they do not age quickly and remain decorative for longer, up to 3 months.They are perfect shrubs to decorate autumn balconies and terraces.Popular white-flowered bud varieties are 'Alicia', 'Melanie', 'Sandy', 'Klaudia', 'Maria' and Martha '.
Other bud varieties are 'Alexandra' - red, 'Annelise' - light purple, 'Anette' - pink, 'Aphrodite' - red, 'Arabella' - red, 'Bonita' - red, 'Golden Wonder' - pink, 'Marleeen' - pink, 'Nele' - dark pink, 'Nina' - dark pink, 'Pere-strojka' - red, 'Plantarium' - pink, 'Red Favorite' - salmon red and 'Verena' - light purple.
