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Heucheras

Madeleine51Madeleine51 Posts: 98
in Plants

I just adore heucheras particularly the dark red varieties but I cannot get them to grow. I have spent a fortune in the hopes that they will do well.  I drool with envy when I see them in other gardens so can anyone give me some tips please.  I will be forever grateful.  Thanks

Madeleine

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Posts

  • Alina WAlina W Posts: 1,445

    What sort of soil and aspect have you tried growing them on so far?

  • gardeningfanticgardeningfantic Posts: 1,019

    they seem to like shade /dapple shade and free draining.. well in my garden they do. they do not do well in full sun here.

  • Madeleine51Madeleine51 Posts: 98

    Thanks for your replies.

    I have tried them in compost enriched soil in full sun and semi shade although perhaps I should have been more generous with the compost.  They seem to be ok for a bit and then they just don't thrive (become spindly)and I end up pulling them out. Are they very thirsty plants? Mybe I dont water them enough

  • Alina WAlina W Posts: 1,445

    They are thirsty, yes. Many of them also seem to do better in more shade than you might expect.

  • LORELEILORELEI Posts: 128
    I have several in different parts of the garden and they all seem to be ok wether in sun or shade. They do tend to lift themselves out of the garden as they get older, so before I bury them back in I always take a piece off and stick it somewhere else. Never failed to come on yet.
  • Madeleine51Madeleine51 Posts: 98

    Hello Everyone.   Thanks for your ideas. Based on Lorelei's ideas, is it a good idea to  bury them deeper than usual perhaps if they have a tendency to lift out of the ground? 

  • LORELEILORELEI Posts: 128
    I dont know wether it would make any difference as this seems to be 'what they do ' Might be worth a go tho. My soil is clay, but have mixed in lots of spent compost over the years, also never water them any more than anything else in the garden and they seem to thrive. Good luck.
  • BraidmanBraidman Posts: 269

    .

    With me the plants with dark coloured leaves do best planted in the garden (soil quite heavy, lightened with peat and garden compost!)

    The light coloured leaves do best in pots or tubs!

    They have not been so colourful or grown well this season, I think the rain and dull days have done for them so far!

    The biggest problem is vine weavil, none of the so called "EXPENSIVE" vine weavil insecticides are any use what so ever!l

  • LORELEILORELEI Posts: 128
    All mine are dark leaved and in the garden. I want to get a couple of the one called Marmalade, it looks lovely in a mag I bought. Maybe I will try them in a pot. Is your vine weavil aproblem just in the pots, or in the ground as well ?
  • yellowcone87yellowcone87 Posts: 15

    I started all my heucheras in pots, in full sun, on the patio. They have done very well indeed and are flowering away very freely. They are thirsty though, so in pots you do need to keep an eye on them. I only plant them in the garden in their second year, and they seem to love this treatment. Mine are a dark red variety, although I forget exactly which. Make sure to give them a good feed at the beginning of the season and they will do well enough.

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