Heath plants love acidic, cool and well-drained soil. Planting is an important phase in the life of a plant.
After having been grown in a container in a nursery, your plant will move to a new environment to which it must adapt.
Carefully follow each of the steps sequenced below.
This will guarantee that your heath plant will grow beautifully!
Planting heath plants
- Dig a hole 4 to 5 times wider than the clump of the plant you are transferring. Usually heath trees and shrubs are sold in containers about 6 to 10 inches across (15 to 25 cm).
|
Hole diameter |
Hole depth |
| Trees |
32 inches (80 cm) |
40 inches (1 m) |
| Shrubs |
24 inches (60 cm) |
20 inches (50 cm) |
- Break up the soil that was dug out, removing rocks and pieces of wood.
- Mix this soil with heath soil (⅓ soil to ⅔ heath soil).
- Let the root clump sit in a bucket of water for a few minutes to re-hydrate soil and roots.
- Carefully run your fingers or a tool to untangle roots without wounding them, since they usually tend to cross over each other.
- At the bottom of the hole, place a little bit of granulated organic heath plant fertilizer.
- Place your plant in the hole, carefully spreading the roots out along the bottom. If the soil is very chalky, place a felt mat at the bottom of the hole to create a pocket of heath soil.
- Fill the remaining space in the hole with heath soil.
- Lightly compact the soil
- Water abundantly.
Smart tip for heath plants
For trees or shrubs that are over 40 inches (1 m) tall, you must stake them upon planting! As you see, having soil that is too acidic for “normal” plants doesn’t mean you can’t grow a beautiful garden!
