Heathers are one of my favorite winter-interest plants. There are Ericas (Heaths), which bloom around November and December, and Callunas (Scotch Heather), which bloom in summer but often have vibrant winter foliage.
They are very low-maintenance plants, but they do need pruning once a year after they bloom. Check out this video on how to prune a Scotch Heather in the fall; you can also use the techniques shown to prune a Daboecia (Irish Heath) in late summer, or Erica in winter.
(My employee took this video when we were out doing some garden cleanup, and an interested fellow wandered up to watch. We get a lot of local color here in Arcata!)
Other resources:
Fiskars Power Gear Hedging Shear (Video review of the tool I prefer for pruning Heathers)
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Nice tutorial video! Your camera person did a great job focusing on the topic and subtlety moving the camera shots away from the dude who seemed to want to be featured in your video.
I linked to you from C.L.’s ‘Whole Life Gardening’ blog.
Aerie-el’s last blog post..PERSPECTIVES
Thanks Aerie-el! I definitely learned a lot on that first video – the ones I’ll be posting soon have a lot less background noise.
We definitely get a lot of “interesting” characters in this town! LOL.
i have 4 heathers that need the same haircut, but mine are flowered on the tips with green but are dead wood like at base, “have been that way for 2 seasons”, they just get taller and taller, no green at base like yours. can i still cut and get a beaty next year?
Hey Roxanne,
Depends on the variety. I’ve had some luck cutting Ericas to hard wood (just wood, no leaves). If you have a Calluna or Daboecia, though – neither of them responds well to hard pruning, and if they are woody inside to where it is ugly, I’d just replace them. They often get woody like that if they aren’t pruned every year after bloom, and sometimes that happens in time even with a yearly shearing.
If you don’t know what kind you have, try doing a google image search or looking at the heather society website for photos and guidance in identifying them. Or email me a good up-close photo (my email’s on the contact page) and I can tell you.