At first glance, heathers and heaths look identical, but there is a significant difference between them, namely different flowering dates. You can create interesting compositions from these plants, thanks to which the garden and terrace will be flooded with a riot of colors in early winter, spring, summer and autumn.
And the heaths are small, evergreen, long -term shrubs, which are usually grown in rock gardens and discounts. Many people decorate them with terraces, placing them in containers.
The cultivation of these two plants is almost identical. We plant them in autumn – from the second half of September to the first half of October or spring – from March to the end of April. We place 10-15 pieces of one variety in the soil. With the low ones, keep a distance of 20-30 cm, AU tall 45-60 cm. After planting, they require abundant watering.
Heather and heaths prefer a sunny position, sheltered from the wind. In turn, the substrate should be light, humus, permeable and slightly sandy, with a pH of 4 to 5.5.
These specimens do not need frequent watering. After planting, we hydrate them every few days. In older plants, we carry out this treatment once a week in autumn, and in winter sporadically.
When it comes to fertilization, one supply is enough in early spring. We use fertilizers for acidophilic plants.
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Cultivation of heather and heather also includes pruningwhich affects their density and abundant flowering. We cut below the flowers. The difference, however, applies to the terms of this procedure …
Heather and some heaths, i.e. Eric Tetralix, Eric Vagans, Eric Watsonia should be cut in early spring. On the other hand, in other heathers, e.g. Eric Carnea, Eric Darleynsis, we carry out this procedure right after flowering.
These two plants differ slightly in appearance. Heathers have bell -shaped or donut flowers gathered in ears or clusters and evergreen, scaly leaves. Heaths, on the other hand, are characterized by small, coniferous leaves, as well as flowers of different colors and shapes, forming bunches, clusters, baldachs or panicles.
Significant differences are observed in the flowering of these specimens. Heather begins to bloom in July and can stay until the end of November.
Heaths release the first flowers in mid -February (Winter Beauty variety). Some of them bloom in June (marsh heather, Watson heather, Popular Heather). The flowering period of most of these plants falls on March, April and May.
To sum up, it is worth having both heathers and heaths in the garden and terrace. Thanks to this, you can maintain a continuity of colors almost all year round.
