Will heathers grow in shade?
I think (and hope) we are long past the days when heathers were planted by yard and rolled out across the landscape like nylon carpet in the 1970s. In Ireland at least, heathers are found in every garden centre but they are not as popular as they once were. I am sure there are lots of reasons for this. They are not really the perfect ground cover that everyone wanted, needing no work and remaining beautiful for ever. They get old and if not regularly trimmed soon become a mess. They also don’t do well in shade. Lots of people wanted ground cover to fill shady areas and to smother weeds and heathers not only struggle to compete with perennial weeds, they need as much sun as possible.
You only have to think about where they grow in the wild to understand this. They grow wild on upland bogs, often in peaty, very acid soils where little else survives. I will ignore the Cape heaths from South Africa which are generally frost-tender and a completely different (and beautiful) kettle-of-fish but the other heathers that need concern us are Mediterranean and also sun-lovers, though tolerant of dry, stony soils and, most excitingly, lime – and they bloom in winter.
So most heathers need a sunny, open spot and most need acid soils. But the winter-flowering heathers tolerate lime so can be grown in virtually all soils.
It has taken me a long time to really get enthusiastic about heathers. As a teenager I did grow summer heathers in a large pot, mainly because I was just contrary and we had chalky soil that would be a death sentence to them. They lived in a peaty mix and I soon decided that there were better things to grow in pots. But I am falling for the winter heathers. The last plants I bought in a garden centre were winter heathers. They are in bloom for months, provide colour when I really need it and the flowers are popular with bees and butterflies on warm, sunny winter days.
A planting of these heathers need not be flat and uninteresting either. Erica carnea is relatively flat and spreading while Erica erigena and E. x darleyensis is more upright and bushy. And you can add the many forms of E. arborea (below, in a pot) for vertical interest. But you don’t need to segregate heathers into their own ghetto and they can be mixed with other plants. Just avoid anything with exuberant foliage that will smother the heathers and kill them. Grasses work well but sprawlers like most hardy geraniums are probably best avoided.
The Biking Gardener 
Heathers and dwarf conifers were a strong fashion in the 70s into the 80s – and provided a perfect garden bed for our dog! Not a heather in the garden now!
It is testament to how influential the trend was that we can’t mention heathers without conifers. Few plants have had such a metroric rise in popularity and fall from grace. But it is sad that if you see heathers for sale in garden centres, the chances are they will be painted! The final indignity.
Judging by the inclusion of heather in a recent Gardeners’ World programme, they might be edging their way back into our gardens again.
Who knows? There are worse things that could happen. At least they are plants.
?! I was never aware of this fad. Until the past few years, they had been very rare in home gardens here. I only remember Erica arborea because it grew wild in Montara, where it had been planted decades earlier as a cut flower commodity, and then abandoned.
It is strange that heathers never made it big there. But as one of their main attributes is hardiness maybe it allowed more interesting things to be planted. I always think that small-leaved hebes have a similar landscape use but can be rather unreliably hardy. they serve a similar purpose and with a bit more variation and panache.
I suspect that heathers were unpopular here because they are unhappy with the aridity. They do well in coastal regions, such as San Francisco, but not so well just a few miles inland. Not only do most people live within chaparral or even desert climates here, but most of the growers are in similar climates farther inland. Marketability is limited for something that takes a bit of extra work to grow.
Firstly there is a stereotypical view of Heather. Would you buy a car or a particular type of car?
So let’s think in terms of the various species available and the environment they are required to live in. I would place the better Daboecia varieties in my top ten shrubs list .They are in a league of their own,fairly long lived,at home in an organ8c soil having a wide colour range and the attribute of being distinct from other Heather’s whilst also flowering of many months.
I will not burden you with the other Heather choices as the key to succes is homework. Going out with your choice in mind and not accepting the choices made by your retailer . As in everything there are exceptional and nondescript varieties so spend time,do your research and track down the best. It costs nothing more than your time. And yes,some Heather’s will tolerate shade. I have found lusitanica Watsons heath and Cornish heath growing wild in the shade
Thank you for your comments. I do dislike heathers in a very ‘broad brush’ way and there are lots of exceptions. If I had a frostier climate I would fill the garden with South African heaths. And I agree that daboecias are good – and I have one – yes just the one for now. It is a group of plants with lots of exceptions so I apologise for over-generalisations.