Landscaping with Heather Plants

By Renee Gerber , last updated April 2, 2011

Heather plants are colorful perennials that are native to heaths, moors and woodlands of Europe and the Asia Minor areas. They are low-growing and extremely resilient, which makes them excellent plants to grow in hot climates, as they can survive even in times of drought. They are also quite beautiful, which makes them an ideal type of plant with which to use in landscaping.

The blooms of these plants come in varying shades of magenta, pink, purple, lavender and red. Heathers, which are evergreen plants, can bloom anywhere between July and November, depending on its variety. These factors make them all the more attractive for landscaping your garden or property.

Create a Colorful Walkway

A good way to create your landscaping with heathers is to plant the colorful blooms around or even on your front porch. You can create a colorful walkway leading toward your entry door, which would give your home a more inviting appeal. Your visitors will surely smile when they look up to see deep pink blooms adorning the area.

Install a Pergola

Another wonderful idea is to put up a pergola. Instead of growing grapes or vines on it, consider hanging beautiful heather plants. Or you can have vines as well as the heathers for an even more exotic beauty. Some gardeners enjoy landscaping their yard and porch with more than one variety of heathers, which adds to the colorful beauty of the ornamental plantings.

Planting Instructions

Regardless of where you plant your heathers for landscaping, make sure to give them an acidic soil that contains at least a 4.5 to 5.5 pH level. Heathers also require a good four to six hours of sunlight, so make sure that your desired landscaping location receives adequate sunshine all year round. Should the plant not get enough sun, it will wither and grow dull.

Heathers also do not require too much watering when planting in the ground. Their soil should just be moist, and watering should be upheld until it becomes dry again. Never overwater, as too much moisture will kill your heathers.

Cultivation Tips

The best time of year to grow a heather plant is during the spring or early fall. When you grow your heathers, make sure to space them adequately enough. They need a good amount of space due to their full-grown width of about three feet. They also can reach nearly two feet tall, which is no doubt another reason why they are so popular for landscaping.

Since heathers are also resilient toward all types of insects and burrowing animals such as moles, you might want to decorate your garden with them. They are naturally low-growing, after all. Heathers could make a beautiful addition to the base of the bed of a tree in your garden or to a shrub or bush, such as roses. This would pop your garden with even more colors in one spot, which will bring great pride to you as an amateur gardener Whatever landscaping idea you may have in store for your heathers, their exquisite beauty can inspire other gardeners and make you the envy of all your neighbors!

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