Summer flowering heather

D

Dinas Bryn

Registered
Evening all, my old railway layout is just a pad of stones as due to old age I have lifted the new layout up to 3ft, there is little or no soil so I thought I could buy heathers and just let them fill the area, any ideas please Les
 
I'm no expert but I find that heathers tend to get leggy after a while. It might be an idea to mix with a variety of different sedums/stonecrop that will thrive on stones with very little soil.
 
Another thing that you may consider is to use shallow seed trays, fill with a mix of earth and Alpine Grit,. If you have a shady area you could plant Mind Your Own Business. In sunnier area Corsican Mint or other such Ground Cover plants. The Sedums are also a good idea, however stay away from Sedum Acre, it is a real thug. In time they will grow over the edge to disguise the Seed Trays. Us trays if varying sizes. You could even put the odd rock or two in the trays to add interest. Oh don't for get to drill some drainage holes.
JonD
 
I don't know if there is a Morrisons near you but they are a good source of alpine plants at very reasonable prices, Heathers, sedums etc, being amongst them.
 
Be aware that a lot of summer flowering heathers will require acidic soil... after all they live on moors/heaths! In my garden which has a ph of just on the acidic side of neutral I find many will just not grow, winter flowering ones do slightly better though. One solution I've used over the years was to acquire acidic compost specifically designed for this type of plant and generously add it to the planting area, I then have used it as a mulch each year to keep the ph better. Heathers will get leggy after a while though, pruning them back after flowering (not into brown wood though, they don't grow back if you do that) well help stop them going leggy for a while.

I've used various small hebes to good effect, you can sometimes find these in cheap sets of 6 at garden centres, I have before grown them in pots sunk into the ground, which might be better if you do not have much soil...just make sure they don't dry out if you do plant like that.I have an acer growing that way at the moment too.

Mind your own business is a tricky one, I have a neighbour who had it in her previous garden and it literally swamped everything and was hard to control...she treats it as bio-hazard, in my garden so far it doesn't go too mad, fingers crossed.

Steph'
 
Steph,
Agree with what you say about MYOB, however for me it can never be too virulent. Will act as a good mulch to keep weed growth down if it grows like your neighbors does. In my case I have found that it grows well but never as a nuisance. But then what is a nuisance or weed. Well in my view a plant that grows where you do not want it. MYOB is welcome anywhere on my line.
JonD
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top