Most Ericaceous in Every Way

 

 

Funny, if you look up ericaceous plants, they don’t call them acid loving plants they call them lime hating.  There is no proof that they actually hate lime, they may, for all we know, just mildly disdain it.  To my knowledge no one has interviewed them so we can’t be 100% certain.  What we do know is that these revellers are less lime tolerant and require acid, or ericaceous, conditions to thrive. 

 

Of ericaceous species the best known of which are:

 

 

Rhododendrons

 

 

Azaleas

 

Camellias

 

Magnolias and

 

Heathers

 

 

 

 

Just because this group require slightly specialist conditions they are not at all mysterious or to be avoided.  Au contraire , they are very simple to grow, easy to care for and incredibly rewarding in almost every situation.  In fact magnolias are largely trouble free in almost all environments.

 

Interestingly, most all ericaceous varieties are shallow rooted and while this makes them easy to move, should you so wish, don’t plant them too deeply and water in well with a thorough soaking to encourage the plant to establish.  Always take care to ensure that they don’t dry out as they don’t have a deep rooting system to search out lower sources of moisture sources within the soil. 

 

As these plants tend to be early flowering they carry spring buds and can therefore be susceptible to damage by harsh frosts. 

 

If you know you have acidic conditions the plant can be placed directly into the soil.  Despite them having a reputation for being challenging or problematical I’ve found them, without every doing any soil testing, to be largely adaptable to most conditions within the UK.  However, that being said if you know without doubt that there is a lot of lime pre-existing within your soil then you can get round that by growing dwarf Rhododendrons or Azaleas in a pot or container using an ericaceous compost mix which is very widely available. 

 

Alternatively you could plant them in a situation less naturally suited to their requirements if you prepared the area with ericaceous compost and enriched the soil or provided a regular acid feed annually, preferably prior to flowering.

 

 

 

 

 

The majority of ericaceous species are cultivated from woodland habitats so most prefer partial shade and once established are usually completely hardy and tolerant of surviving the coldest of our winters. 

 

Deadhead after flowering, taking care to avoid damage to any new buds.  Watch for vine weevil grubs harboured in the compost wreaking havoc in pot grown subjects as excepting for these critters you should get years of trouble free enjoyment from your plants.