Many heather plants are sold potted in garden shops and, like many other flowering plants, are only used seasonally as a splash of color on graves or in balcony boxes. The snow heather or winter heather (Erica carnea) in particular is extremely hardy and, with a little care, can also be cultivated as a perennial subshrub in the garden.
Can winter heather be cultivated perennial?
The winter heather (Erica carnea) can be cultivated as a winter-hardy subshrub for several years by cutting it regularly, watering it sufficiently and fertilizing it. Protect the plant from drought in winter and provide fresh soil in balcony boxes.
Getting the snow heath through the winter well
Although the snow heath can cope well with very frosty temperatures due to its subalpine to alpine origins, dangers can also lurk in winter. The worst of these is usually winter drought caused by cold frosts. When planting winter heather in spring, you should therefore make sure that the plants are placed in a substrate with good water storage capacity. The plants should also be watered in winter if frost-free days or moving the balcony boxes to a frost-free location allow this. However, be careful not to overwater the winter heather (it doesn't like that in summer either), but to moisten the soil around the roots as evenly as possible. A layer of leaves and fine brushwood can also protect the ground around the winter heather from drying out in winter.
With a trick, the winter heather also produces numerous flowers the following year
For many garden owners, the winter heather gets through the winter without demanding care, but then causes perplexed faces in the next garden season. This is because the plant either produces very few flowers or tends to become bald. This problem can be easily counteracted with a little care by:
- cutting
- water adequately
- Provide with some fertilizer
The best time to prune is immediately after flowering in spring. This stimulates the formation of new flower heads in a timely manner, laying the foundation for magnificent blooms next winter. The rejuvenating pruning also promotes a compact growth habit and thus prevents the plants from becoming bald.
The winter heather as a winter decoration in the balcony box
The winter heather is one of the few plants that can be used to decorate the balcony with real flowers even in winter. However, even the hardy snow heath does not necessarily tolerate it optimally if it is only transplanted into the balcony boxes in the dead of winter. It can therefore make sense to have a second set of balcony boxes in which the winter heather can then be moved to a sunny or semi-shady spot in the garden when it is replaced in spring.
Tip
If you cultivate winter heather in the balcony box for several years, you should regularly ensure fresh soil and sufficient nutrients in the balcony box. In addition, plants in the balcony box dry out more easily than in the open field, which is why watering the snow heath should not be forgotten during the visually unspectacular summer months.
