Prickly heath

Prickly heath: how do you recognise it?

Habit

Dense dwarf shrub of about 1 m that spreads by suckers.

Leaves

Small, oval, 1–2 cm, leathery and glossy dark green with a spiny tip; evergreen.

Flower

Small, white, bell-shaped flowers in the leaf axils, in May–June.

Fruit

Round, glossy berries about 1 cm across, from September into winter.

Roots

Shallow and suckering: after a few years it forms a dense clump.

Sex

Usually dioecious: female plants bear the berries, male plants provide the pollen.

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

Why grow it?

• Eye-catching berries from autumn into winter, in white, pink, red or purple.
• Evergreen, glossy leaves: a fresh-looking plant even in winter.
• Ideal for troughs and pots in autumn and winter.
• A fine partner for other acid-soil plants, such as heathers and rhododendrons.
• Low maintenance: hardly any pruning or feeding needed.

Prickly heath: where does it grow best?

• Sun or partial shade; it sets the most berries in sun.
• Only acid, humus-rich soil: sandy, loamy or peaty, never chalky.
• Moist: the soil must not dry out, but should not stay wet either.
• Plant 60–80 cm apart and put one male plant with a group of females.

Light

Sun and partial shade

Soil type

Sand, loam or peat

Acidity

Acid

Moisture

Normal

Size

1 m tall, 1 m wide

Hardiness

Hardy (to -20 °C)

Goes well with

• Skimmia: Also evergreen, with berries and fragrant flowers, on the same acid soil.
• Heather: Flowers in late summer and likes the same acid soil.
• Winter heath: Flowers in winter next to the berries.
• Rhododendron: A larger shrub that needs the same acid, humus-rich soil.
• Ferns: Green foliage in partial shade around the shrub.

Prickly heath: when and how to plant it?

Plant in March–April and September–October.

1. Plant in March–April or September–October.
2. On limy soil, grow it in a trough or pot of ericaceous compost instead.
3. Dig a hole twice as wide as the root ball and mix in leaf mould or ericaceous compost.
4. Set the plant at the same depth as in the pot and firm the soil.
5. Plant 60–80 cm apart, with a male plant within a few metres of the females.
6. Water in with rainwater and mulch with fine bark or pine needles.

Care

Water

Give rainwater in dry spells; tap water often contains lime.

Feeding

In spring, a little fertiliser for acid-loving plants or ericaceous compost; no more is needed.

Mulching

A layer of pine needles or bark keeps the soil acid and moist.

Suckers

In spring, chop off suckers that spread too far with a spade.

Containers

Use ericaceous compost and a pot with a drainage hole, and water with rainwater.

Tip: Put a male plant with a group of females for a heavy crop of berries, and plant only in acid soil or in a trough of ericaceous compost. Water with rainwater.

Prickly heath: when to prune it?

Pruning months: March–April.

When: Pruning is hardly needed. If you want to adjust the shape, do so in March–April, once the berries are over.

How:

• Shorten overlong or bare shoots to just above a leaf or side shoot.
• Chop off suckers outside the desired area with a spade.
• Cut out dead twigs.

Caution: Do not prune in autumn: you would lose the winter berries.

Pruning: when and how · Pruning calendar and basic rules

Propagation

Suckers

In spring, sever a sucker with its own roots and replant it separately in acid soil.

Semi-ripe cuttings

In August–September: small cuttings of 5–8 cm in a sandy, acid cutting mix under plastic.

Seed

In autumn, take the seeds out of the berries, sow them in a pot and leave it outside over winter: they need cold to germinate. Only after a few years will you know whether a plant is male or female.

Prickly heath: how does it get through the winter?

Hardy to −20 °C.

• Hardy to about −20 °C: no protection needed in the garden.
• The berries stay on for a long time and brighten the winter garden.
• In a pot or trough the roots freeze more quickly: stand the pot against a sheltered wall and wrap it in hard frost.
• In a dry winter, give potted plants some rainwater now and then on a frost-free day.

Diseases and pests

• No berries: There is no male plant nearby, or your plant is itself male. Add a male plant to the group.
• Yellow leaves: Soil or water too limy. Water with rainwater and use a fertiliser for acid-loving plants.
• Root rot: Browning leaves and dying shoots in wet soil. Make sure drainage is good.
• Spreading too far: The suckers take over the border. Chop them off every spring.

Through the year

• March: Plant. Shorten overlong shoots. Chop off suckers.
• April: Plant. Give fertiliser for acid-loving plants.
• May: Flowering: white bells.
• June: Flowering. Give rainwater in dry weather.
• August: Take semi-ripe cuttings.
• September: Plant. The berries colour up.
• October: Plant. Berries in full colour; ideal for autumn containers.
• December: Berries brighten the garden. Protect pots in hard frost.

Edible and useful

Not edible. The large, glossy berries of prickly heath (pernettya), in white, pink, red or purple, are regarded as poisonous, although sources disagree on just how poisonous they are: so do not eat them. It belongs to the heather family, like bilberry and cranberry, but also like rhododendron: the family tells you nothing about whether a berry is edible. The berries look like sweets and stay on from autumn well into winter, often in autumn containers by the front door or on the patio, right at a child’s height. Keep such containers out of reach of small children, dogs and cats, or pick off the berries, and teach children that they are not sweets. If any is swallowed, call a poison centre (in Belgium 070 245 245) or your doctor at once.

Did you know?

• It used to be called Pernettya mucronata, after Antoine-Joseph Pernety, who sailed with Bougainville’s expedition to the Falkland Islands in the 18th century.
• The genus Gaultheria is named after Jean-François Gaultier, an 18th-century physician and botanist in Quebec.
• Mucronata means ‘with a small sharp point’ and refers to the spiny tips of the leaves.