is heather a good ground cover?

Aldi have some heather in and i am thinking of getting some for the bottom of the garden where i need some ground cover. Before i purchase any i thought i would ask your advise. is it a good ground cover for suppressing weeds?

 

A bit tricky that Maria,
to Gardeners Corner. Heather prefers a shallow, free draining but sunny position and a neutral to slightly acid soil. Does your area match any of these?
Jenny namaste

 

It will not do well in a shady spot. Also, each plant grows larger and sprawls, but it does not send out new roots which shoot and create new plants further away, thereby covering ground. Also, after some years it will tend to degenerate and go brown underneath, it will sulk if you prune these bits off too hard. But it might not bother you to replace in, say, 5 years, anyway.

It is good at suppressing weed growth underneath and provides greenery and colour at difficult times of year.

So think about the ifs and buts and decide if they are right for your spot. Hard to resist some of Aldi's bargains, I know!

 

thanks guys i am a total novice to be honest. Is there a gadget for testing what sort of soil i have? Aldi are selling 6 plants for £3.99,bargains are my downfall lol

 

There are various testing gadgets but to avoid spending money, ask a gardening neighbour who should know. Or tell us where you live and someone will probably know if that area is acid. Or look around the local front gardens - if you can see camellias, azaleas, heathers etc, already growing you can assume the soil is somewhat acid and heathers will do OK.

 

thanks guys x

 

The test tube kits are best (don't get a cheap pH meter, with a probe, they are notoriously inaccurate, but I agree with just checking if there are Azaleas, Camellias or Rhododendrons in the gardens around you.

Erica carnea will grow on Alkaline soil, I've not grown Heathers so I don't know how good that one would be for ground cover.

 

Hi, i bought some of the heather from aldi, granted i planted it in partial shade, but it did not spread very well at all. Might do better for you though.

 

hi cheers i got some in the end just couldn't resist the bargain guess i could always plant between it if it doesn't spread very far

 

ooooo thanks fat controller i will give that a go my roots are in scotland so felt lovely to plant some heather sadly the accent has gone though lol

 

hehhhe i am a true one through and through whats an accent eh? lol

 

I like that saying, and it makes logical sense but not necessarily about the actual compost per se, but more that peat is usually natural acidic, as it forms in very wet ground where anaerobic bacteria prevail, and those bacteria turn the ground acid.

@maria, welcome to GC by the way Be careful when buying heather. Even if you can provide the right conditions for it, it may not be what you expect. I kid you not, some retailers actually use dye on heather to make the colour a lot more vivid than it ought to be. I've seen people buy it, have a nice display for a week or two until the dye wears off/grows out, and then it looks pretty dull. Head up to your nearest moors. I know the heather on there is the wild kind, but still, heather is pretty dull really when it hasn't been dyed.

 

cheers for the heads up