Due to the very limited frost resistance of most balcony flowers cultivated in this country, many balcony boxes are "cleared" in autumn and only replanted in spring. A few specimens of the winter heather could also provide different colored flowers on the balcony during the cold months of the year.

The winter heath also cuts a fine figure in the balcony box when it is snowing and cold

Choosing the right plants is what matters

When selecting suitable plants, you should pay close attention to the labeling in specialist shops or be able to clearly assign the plants themselves to either heather or winter heather. The former grows in moorland heathland in relatively mild locations and flowers in midsummer. Depending on the variety, it is only hardy to a limited extent and requires a rather acidic plant substrate such as peat. The winter heath, on the other hand, comes from mountainous regions in central and southern Europe, where the plants lead a rather inconspicuous existence in the summer in gravel river beds or in sparse forests. The snow heath usually blooms between February and April, some varieties even earlier depending on the weather. You are also characterized by the following properties:

  • like calcareous soils
  • love sunny or at least partly sunny locations
  • must never dry out completely in the root area

Properly care for the winter heather in the balcony box

In principle, the culture in the balcony box or in another planter with the snow heather does not differ fundamentally from the planting as ground cover or bed edging directly in the garden soil. An important care measure is pruning immediately after flowering in spring, which stimulates the regular regeneration of the plants. This prevents bare spots and by autumn there is a strong formation of new flower buds for the following year. However, plants in balcony boxes are more exposed to the weather than plants in garden beds. Under certain circumstances, even the actually hardy varieties of snow heath can come under pressure from extreme frosts without winter protection. The drying out of the soil is even more significant for winter damage to the snow heath, which should be prevented by watering sparingly on frost-free days.

Provide a heather look all year round with mixed planting

If you like the typical look of the squat heather plants, you can easily create the right look in the balcony box all year round. Simply mix specimens of heather and winter heather and you can look forward to two flowering periods per year. You can solve the problem of the different demands on the soil by putting the individual plants together with sufficiently large plant pots (with the appropriate soil) in the balcony boxes (€109.00).

tips

So that there is no loss of plants with a mixture of heather and snow heather in the balcony box, the less hardy heather plants should be covered with protective leaves or brushwood in winter. In addition, you should not plant the individual plants too close together.

Category:

Vegetable garden