Bell heather

Bell heather: how do you recognise it?

Habit

Dwarf shrub 20–30 cm high and up to 50 cm wide, with ascending shoots.

Leaves

Needle-like, 4–7 mm, dark green, in whorls of three; evergreen.

Flower

Bell-shaped flowers of 5–7 mm in clusters at the tips, from June to September.

Colour

Purple-pink in the wild; cultivars in white, pink, magenta and dark purple.

Roots

Fine and shallow, with a fungus that helps it take up nutrients from poor soil.

Flowering: June–September · Plants: March–April and September–October · Pruning: March–April

Why grow it?

• A long summer display, from June into September, before ling heather begins.
• Attracts bees, bumblebees and other insects.
• Evergreen: a green carpet even in winter.
• Ideal for dry, poor sandy soil, where many other plants fail.
• No feeding and little water needed: one trim a year is enough.

Bell heather: where does it grow best?

• Full sun: in shade it grows leggy and hardly flowers.
• Acid, poor, well-drained sandy soil; it cannot tolerate lime.
• Dry: in wet soil the roots rot.
• Plant 30–40 cm apart, about six to eight plants per m².

Light

Sun

Soil type

Sand

Acidity

Acid

Moisture

Dry

Size

0.3 m tall, 0.5 m wide

Hardiness

Hardy (to -20 °C)

Goes well with

• Ling heather: Flowers later, from August to October, extending the heather season.
• Winter heath: Provides flowers in winter and early spring.
• Juniper: An evergreen, drought-loving shrub for a heather garden.
• Broom: Yellow flowers in May on the same acid sandy soil.
• Blue fescue: Fine, blue-grey tufts between the cushions.

Bell heather: when and how to plant it?

Plant in March–April and September–October.

1. Plant in March–April or September–October.
2. Loosen the soil; on rich or limy ground, make a bed filled with acid soil for heathers.
3. Set the plant slightly deeper than it was in the pot, so the lowest shoots rest on the soil.
4. Plant 30–40 cm apart, ideally in groups of three or more of the same cultivar.
5. Water in with rainwater and water regularly in dry spells during the first summer.
6. Mulch with fine bark or pine needles; no compost or fertiliser.

Care

Water

In dry spells during the first year, with rainwater; after that only in prolonged drought.

Feeding

Do not feed: fertiliser makes it soft and short-lived.

Mulching

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

Weeding

Weed grasses and weeds between young plants until they form a closed carpet.

Containers

It can grow in a trough of ericaceous compost; water with rainwater.

Tip: Shear off the faded flower spikes every spring, but do not cut into bare wood. Do not feed it, and water with rainwater in dry spells.

Bell heather: when to prune it?

Pruning months: March–April.

When: In March–April, before new growth starts.

How:

• Shear off the faded flower spikes with secateurs or shears, just below the old flowers.
• Do not cut into bare old wood: it will not reshoot from there.
• A light trim every year keeps the plant compact and stops the centre going bare.

Caution: Do not trim in autumn: the faded flowers protect the plant in winter.

Pruning: when and how · Pruning calendar and basic rules

Propagation

Cuttings

In July–August: small cuttings of 3–5 cm from non-flowering shoots in a mix of sand and ericaceous cutting compost, under plastic.

Layering

In spring, peg a shoot into the soil and cover it with sand; sever it after a year and replant.

Bell heather: how does it get through the winter?

Hardy to −20 °C.

• Very hardy, to about −20 °C: no protection needed in Belgium.
• Leave the faded flowers until spring; they give a russet winter tint.
• In a trough or pot: make sure water drains away freely and give some rainwater now and then in a dry winter.

Diseases and pests

• Yellow leaves: A sign of lime in the soil or the water. Water with rainwater and mulch with pine needles; on chalky soil, grow it in a trough instead.
• Root rot: The plant turns grey and dies in wet, heavy soil. Plant in well-drained sandy soil.
• Bare centre: Caused by years without trimming. An annual trim prevents it; replace a bare plant.
• Drying out: New plants have few roots in their first year. Give rainwater in dry spells.

Through the year

• March: Shear off faded flower spikes. Plant.
• April: Last trim. Plant. Mulch with pine needles.
• May: Weed between young plants.
• June: Flowering starts.
• July: Flowering. Take cuttings. Water young plants.
• August: Flowering. Take cuttings.
• September: Last flowers. Plant.
• October: Plant.
• December: Dormant. Leave the faded flowers on.

Good for wildlife

Bees

Nectar and pollen for honeybees and wild bees.

Did you know?

• In bell heather the colour is in the bell-shaped corolla; in ling heather it is mainly the coloured sepals that catch the eye.
• Heathers live with special fungi in their roots that help them obtain nutrients from very poor soil.
• The species name cinerea means ‘ash-grey’.