The Royal Horticultural society have been running a campaign designed to encourage the British public to get into gardening and horticulture and at the same time to brighten up the often drab grey appearance of British streets.
You may have noticed raised bed planters and hanging baskets awash with lively and colourful summer blooms artistically hiding some grey concrete slabs on your local high street – this was more than likely placed there due to the RHS “Greening Grey Britain” campaign.
Recently I was wandering down an old terraced street in a rather run down area of Salford, the houses must have been built for factory workers in the early part of the nineteenth century and certainly could have done with a lick of paint, the street was still cobbled and there were empty beer cans and cigarette stubs lying in the gutters. So you could have blown me down with a feather when I came across the most wonderful and I mean really beautiful green oasis adorning a public alleyway at the end of the street.
You will notice in the picture I’ve taken that whoever planted these pots has used heucheras to great affect. In horticultural circles heucheras are sometimes somewhat unkindly referred to as slug magnets. I do admit that those slimy pests do enjoy munching on fresh green heuchera leaves and they love sheltering in the cool moist soil beneath them during warm days. However don’t be dissuaded from growing these splendid plants – using Doff’s range of slug control will keep them at bay. The large green leaves as well as sheltering slugs also serve as useful cover for slugs and snails arch predators, namely frogs, toads and hedgehogs. So, overall if you are growing heucheras, and using slug control methods you should be able to put on a splendid display and you will probably even benefit the rest of your garden by providing hiding places for frogs, toads and hedgehogs.
Heuchera Growing Tips
Heucheras enjoy well drained soil and hate having wet feet. If you are growing them in containers make sure to use a well draining compost which doesn’t contain peat (peat retains water very well). Ensure the holes in the bottom of your pots don’t get clogged up by using a layer of gravel below the compost and raising the pots of the ground using small stones or specially designed pot feet which can be bought in most garden centres.
