Planing heather bed (+extras)

ginvzt

Ok, to please and thank OH for helping me (and allowing) to clear the garden from most that was there and have my vegetable beds, compost bin, etc, I agreed he can have a big heather bed. The place is probably near 4-5m long and about 80cm wide, I would say, but maybe a bit less, as I want to keep a border between the bed and lawn, and it is on top of retaining wall. So, on one long side it is level with the lawn, on other side it is about 40-60cm drop to patio area.

So, we are going to plant lots of heather there, and as these are acid loving plants same as blueberries and cranberries, I would like to plant some of those there as well. I have one dwarf blueberry plant (top hat) that I had for 2 years and then I have another 3 on order (not dwarf varieties). I have a pot with cranberry as well.

The soil is acidic, clay type. I will add more ericaceous compost there, as we have removed leylandiis from there, and need to add some soil to bring it to level.

I thought of planting cranberries along the wall, so they can trail down, covering some of the wall (it is not a very nice wall, red brick). Then put the blueberry plants - would you put them at one end, or would you put them at even distances?

The major headache though is heather!!!! I know that you can get it flowering at different time of year, and we would like to go for the mix, so that we would have some colour in winter and in summer. What are the best varieties to look out? The place is not shaded, and will have reasonable amount of sun (well, apart from the house shades it in the evening, and sun is not high enough in the morning the fence will give shade). Where are the best places to buy? The ones in garden centres seems to be all the same at the moment and flowering early spring (well, now!). Also, I don't want to buy them too small, as it would take a long time for them to grow and establish, and the place would look very bare in the mean time.

So, can I have some suggestions please?....

Rummer

We bought tiny heather plants from a DIY store and they spread hugely within the first year. We are lucky in that the ones we choose seem to have a long flowering time and rapid spread and as they are different shades provide interest all year round. Maybe you could check online for specialist heather growers and order larger plants with varied flowering times?

Rummer

http://www.gallowayheathers.com/ They have a flowering calander

ginvzt

Rummer wrote: »

http://www.gallowayheathers.com/ They have a flowering calander

This is brilliant website - thank you so much! Not only they give you the flowering time, but also the height - I never thought some heathers can get to 150cm, thank god I haven't bought any of them yet, would have been a disaster.

hollydays

Dont forget that you can easily propagate heathers by either pegging bits into the soil or pushing them in and holding them in place with stones.I have a 4foot wall that I am trying to disguise and I have bought some hardy clematis montana and I am going to let them hang down,instead of climb.

ginvzt

I have measured my space last night, and it is just over 5m long by 90cm in width!!! So, bigger than I have estimated. At the moment the left side of the bed is rounded off to wards the wall, so I might keep it the same, or maybe I will 'square it off'. I like the lines to be clean.... (that is why I am putting in 5 raised beds in this garden!)

ginvzt

Right, I have just ordered 11 different varieties. They have so many so pretty ones, that I couldn't resist. They suggest planting 6-9 plants per square metre. My order comes to 33 plants, so it will definitely cover the area I have - it works out about 7-8 plants per square metre in my case and I still want to put some blueberries and cranberries there.

I selected the varieties so that we would have flowering one or other all year round. Fingers crossed it will work!

Oh, and I was thinking to use the weed control fabric as well to cut down on weeds - do you think that is a good idea? My thinking was that the heather will spread soon (hoping), so it will cover it anyway, but in the meantime, it will help me with the 'maintenance'.

Rummer

I wouldn't bother with the weed control fabric as heather spreads so quickly and it will just add un-necessary expense, which ones did you go for in the end? We love our heather but until your post and my quick scan of the net I hadn't realised the huge variety of them!

ginvzt

Ok, I got:

• Tib
• Anne Sparks
• December Red
• Prince of Wales
• Springwood White
• Winter Chocolate
• Spring Cream
• Alba Minor
• Alba Mollis
• Alba Plena
• Arran Gold

I ordered them in 9cm pots instead of plugs. Can't wait for them to arrive. Will have some fun arranging them!

ginvzt

I thought I'll update this with our new heather bed (+blueberries and cranberries):



I have used the weed control fabric. It doesn't look pretty, but it will help me to get a head start with the rest of the garden, and then after the weeds have died a bit under it, we can remove it in a couple of months, maybe. There is so much still to do in the garden, and I have dug up some old grass patches in the bed, that I thought I'll give the weed control fabric a go.