Heather

Heather: how do you recognise it?

Habit

Dwarf shrub of 0.2–1 m with tough, much-branched stems.

Leaf

Tiny, scale-like leaves (1–3 mm) in four rows, pressed close to the shoots; evergreen.

Bark

Thin, tough, woody stems.

Flower

Small lilac (sometimes white) bells in long spikes, August–September.

Fruit

Small capsules.

Difference from cross-leaved heath

Cross-leaved heath (Erica tetralix) has needle-like leaves in whorls of four and larger pink bells; it grows on wet heath.

Flowering: August–October · Harvest and fruit: August–September · Pruning: March–April

Identify by feature: Purple or blue flowers

Looks like it, but isn’t

• Cross-leaved heath (Erica tetralix): needle-like leaves in whorls of four and larger pink bells; on wet heath.

Why grow it?

• Purple flowers in August–September, when there is little other nectar for bees and bumblebees.
• Native, and a food plant for many insects.
• A low, evergreen carpet for poor, dry, sandy soil, where little else will grow.
• Little work: one trim a year and no fertiliser.

Heather: where does it grow best?

• Full sun; in shade it becomes straggly and flowers poorly.
• Acid, poor, free-draining soil, such as sand; no lime and no wet feet.
• On clay or chalky soil: build a raised bed of acid, sandy soil, or grow it in a pot.
• Allow 0.5–0.6 m width per plant; in groups it forms a closed carpet.

Light

Full sun

Legal basis

Acid soil

Moisture

Dry

Size

0.8 m tall, 0.6 m wide

Hardiness

Throughout Belgium, no protection needed

Goes well with

• Scots pine: A pine at the edge of the heather garden adds acid needle litter and the look of the Campine heath.
• Common juniper: A native, prickly conifer that rises like a dark column above the heather.
• Winter heath: Flowers in winter and early spring, while heather rests: together, colour almost all year round.
• Cowberry: A native, evergreen dwarf shrub for the same acid soil, with red berries.

Good and bad companions

Goes well with

• Likes the acid soil near: scots pine, black pine, weymouth pine, english oak, sessile oak, giant redwood
• Like acid soil, just like this plant: rhododendron, japanese skimmia, raspberry, highbush blueberry, witch hazel, broom, gorse, camellia

Best kept away from

• Walnut releases juglone, to which this plant is sensitive: walnut
• Do not plant under the dense crown of these trees: norway spruce, european silver fir, nordmann fir, douglas fir, yew, horse chestnut, norway maple, sycamore

Heather: when and how to plant it?

1. Plant in spring (March–May) or early autumn (September–October).
2. Space plants 30–40 cm apart, in groups of one variety for a calm effect.
3. Plant slightly deeper than in the pot, up to just below the lowest shoots: they will root as well.
4. Loosen the root ball a little and water well after planting; don’t add fertiliser or lime.

Care

Watering

Regularly in the first year, as the root ball dries out quickly; after that only in long dry spells. Rainwater is best.

Feeding

Not needed: heather likes poor soil. Fertiliser makes it floppy and prone to disease.

Mulching

A thin layer of pine bark or pine needles keeps the soil acid, moist and weed-free.

Weeding

Pull out grasses and birch and pine seedlings in good time, or they will overgrow the carpet.

Tip: Mix several varieties: some have golden, orange or grey foliage, and bud-bloomers stay colourful into winter. That way your carpet stays lively outside the flowering season too.

Heather: when to prune it?

Pruning months: March–April.

When: In March–April, after winter.

How:

• Clip off the faded flower spikes just below the flowers to keep the plant dense and young.
• A larger area can be trimmed with shears, following a gently undulating line.
• Don’t cut into old, bare wood: heather regrows poorly from it, if at all.

Caution: Leave the faded spikes on over winter: they protect the plant from frost and look lovely with hoarfrost.

Pruning: when and how · Pruning calendar and basic rules

Propagation

Cuttings

In July–August, take 3–5 cm cuttings from non-flowering shoots and insert them in a mix of ericaceous compost and sand; keep them moist under glass or plastic.

Layering

In spring, press a few low shoots into the soil and cover them with sandy soil; after a year you can cut them free with their roots.

Heather: how does it get through the winter?

Hardy throughout Belgium: no protection needed.

• Fully hardy and evergreen.
• In hard frost without snow and with bright sun, the foliage can dry out and turn brown; water plants in pots now and then on frost-free days.
• Bud-bloomers, varieties whose flowers stay in bud, keep their colour well into autumn and winter.

Diseases and pests

• Lime or fertiliser: Yellow, sickly plants. Heather can’t tolerate lime or fertiliser: plant it in acid soil and water with rainwater.
• Wet feet: Root rot: the plants turn grey and die. Make sure the soil is free-draining and sandy.
• Bare, woody plants: Happens when you don’t trim for years. An old plant barely rejuvenates: replace it with a young one.
• Heather beetle: Small beetles and their larvae eat the foliage, which turns greyish-brown. Mainly on large heathlands; in the garden, cut out affected parts.

Through the year

• March: Trim off the faded spikes. Planting possible.
• April: Last month for trimming; planting and layering.
• June: Water in dry spells, especially young plants.
• July: Take cuttings from non-flowering shoots.
• August: Flowering: plenty of bees and bumblebees.
• September: Flowering continues; planting possible again.
• October: Planting and mulching with pine bark.
• December: Leave the faded spikes on as protection.

What can you use it for?

Garden and landscape

Low, flowering carpet for dry, acid soil; lovely with pines, birches and blueberries.

For wildlife

An important late source of nectar for bees (heather honey) and a food plant for many insects.

Edible and useful

Flowers (August–September)

In August and September, cut flowering tips of heather from your own garden. Dried, they make a mild, slightly floral herbal tea, on their own or in a blend. In Scotland, heather was once used to flavour beer.

Storing

Dry the tips in small bunches or on a rack in an airy, shady place. Then rub off the flowers and leaves and keep them in a closed jar away from the light for up to a year.

Fermenting

In Scotland, ale was once brewed with flowering heather tips instead of, or alongside, hops.

Caution: Do not pick heather in nature reserves: heathland is protected there and picking is forbidden. Make sure it is ling heather (Calluna vulgaris) and do not use other members of the heather family: relatives such as pieris and rhododendron are poisonous. Drink herbal teas in moderation.

Eating and using is at your own risk: see the terms of use.

Recipes

• Heather flower tea (Tea · 1 cup · 5 min + 5–10 min steeping)
• Heather flower syrup (Syrup · ± 500 ml · 20 min + 12 hrs steeping)
• Apple jelly with heather flowers (Jelly · ± 4 jars of 250 ml · 1 hr 15 min + 3 hrs draining)

Good for wildlife

Bees

Nectar and pollen for honeybees and wild bees.

Caterpillars

Host plant: caterpillars of butterflies or moths eat the leaves.

Bumblebees

Nectar and pollen for bumblebees, also from deep flowers and early in spring.

Butterflies

Nectar for butterflies.

Did you know?

• The classic image of the Campine heathland; heather honey is a local speciality.
• Heathland is a cultural landscape: it stayed open because farmers grazed sheep on it and cut turf there as bedding for their livestock.
• Brooms used to be made from the tough stems; the name Calluna comes from a Greek word for sweeping or cleaning.
• Calluna comes from the Greek kallunein, ‘to sweep clean’: its twigs were used to make brooms.
• Heathland is largely man-made: for centuries sheep grazed it and farmers cut turfs from it for animal bedding. Without management it fills in with birch and pine.