The attraction of tree heathers

LOW-growing and wide-spreading hardy heathers are increasing in popularity all the time. And with good reason, for they are long-flowering, undemanding and are rarely attacked by pests or diseases. But to be effective they should be massed; unless on the small scale of a rock garden, one plant by itself looks very lonely.

Not so the tree heathers, those that grow to heights of 4-8ft [1.2-2.4m] – sometimes more in mild and wet parts of the country. Individual specimens or small groups can justify a place in the garden as well as any of the better known and more widely planted flowering shrubs. Although