- The difference between the common heather and the winter heather
- Important care measures for the winter heath in summer
- Multiply the snow heather easily in summer
The winter heather is so popular as a garden plant in part because, rather atypically, it often blooms as early as February or even earlier. Despite a relatively long flowering period, gardeners have to be content with a somewhat simpler appearance of these heather plants in the summer.
After the end of the flowering period, the winter heather is cut back
The difference between the common heather and the winter heather
Many hobby gardeners are sometimes confused by the heather plants in the garden trade, which initially look very similar, since flowering specimens are not only available in the first months of the year, but also in midsummer. On closer inspection, however, it becomes apparent that the specimens that bloom in summer are the so-called common heather. This grows in moor and heath areas with relatively mild climate data and can be recognized by its scaly foliage. The snow heath, on the other hand, is clearly needled and originally comes from more mountainous areas of origin. Therefore, the snow heather is also much more hardy than the common heather. So the choice is relatively easy: For a bloom in summer choose the common heather, you can only experience winter blooms with the winter heather.
Important care measures for the winter heath in summer
Immediately after flowering, the winter heather should be cut back by a good third every year. This is very important to prevent the plants from leafing out and to stimulate flowering for the following year. In addition, the plants can be fertilized regularly and sparingly from April to late summer. Watering is only necessary in extreme drought and a correspondingly sunny location. Specimens in balcony boxes naturally need more water supply.
Multiply the snow heather easily in summer
The snow heather can be propagated in different ways:
- grown from seed
- via sinkers
- by rooting cuttings
To form sinkers, lateral shoots are bent downwards in summer and piled up with some soil. In autumn, the offshoots rooted in this way are finally cut off and planted in a new location. Cuttings are also ideally made in midsummer, they must be kept evenly moist until rooting.
tips
Summer is the ideal time to balance your heather garden after the soil has been washed away by heavy rainfall. First check whether the relatively flat roots of the winter heath are still completely covered with soil or are occasionally exposed to the sun. In the latter case, you should definitely use some suitable soil to bury the plants well above the roots.