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Is my heather dying?
Heyawc
Posts: 34
I’m a newbie in gardening and have got three heathers a couple of weeks ago. All have been well except one that its stems have turned brown from the tips since last week. The flowers still look nice and the base is green. The other two heathers planted next to it look flourishing (those two in the background of the attached photos). Could someone please give me some advice? Thanks.
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I’ve googled and the result is mostly woody all brownish without any coloured blooms at all. Since my stems were green but they turned brown and went further down the stem, I was worried that it’s withering. It’s really confusing with the blooms still in bright pink colour though. Do you have any idea why it turns brown suddenly if it’s not dying nor done full bloom?
I bought two small 9cm heathers earlier this year and planted in my garden, expecting them to establish well without too much fuss like the other perennials. But they quickly turned brown and died
There are 2 type of heather usually sold - Erica and Calluna
Both need acidic soil to grow well but Erica is a little more forgiving in that respect.
I think (but not sure) you have Callunas which which do need an acidic soil.
But for one of yours to seemingly die within a couple of weeks suggests to me it may have already been dying when you bought it. Often the reason is the plant has dried out for a long time.
Small woody plants with tough small green leaves often seem ok even if they're dying for whatever reason and it takes a few weeks for it to become obvious by which time it's too late to do anything.
You could take it back and ask for a replacement as I'm sure you're not the cause of its demise.
Billericay - Essex
Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
Brown at the tip means dead just at the tip. What are the stems like nearer to the roots? You say green.
Soil pH is unlikely to cause death quickly. High pH is more likely to cause a slow unhappy demise.
It might be your watering regime. Too lttle kills plants. Too much kills plants. It might be the sun drying out the youngest, most sensitive flowers.
It might be my nemesis, peat-free compost that does not rewet when it has dries out. If this is the case water carefully directing the water right at the old compost. A small amount of washing up liquid in the water will help.
"Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."