How to plant hebes in your garden?
09-12-2021
Here’s our How to plant hebes in your garden guide. Hebes are fantastic garden plants that form the year-round backbone of your outdoors. Whether you’re having a sunny or a shady garden, hebes thrive anywhere. Did you know that hebes are very attractive to bees, butterflies and other pollinators? By planting hebes in your garden, you contribute to a better environment and an increase in biodiversity. Please read on if you want to learn more about how to plant hebes in your garden.
What is a hebe?
Hebes are low-maintenance evergreen shrubs that add fantastic structure to your garden. The foliage is bright green and tends to form dense hummocks. Young petals show up in bright green, while mature leaves tend to have a more dark green colour. Besides the evergreen foliage, hebes have an extended flowering season with blooms in white, pink or purple. Hebes flower from midsummer to mid-autumn and will survive the winter. Whatever your garden style is, hebes will always fit! Hebes can grow between 40cm to 1.5m. Hebes can be used for several purposes in the garden, like the front position of the border or as a hedge. Hebes look best when planted in rows or groups. A solitary plant looks lovely, but the power of hebes shows up when planted in a group.
Hebe soil
Most hebes prefer well-drained soil, that doesn’t contain too much humus. Poor soil is accepted by hebes. Too rich soil will encourage weak, lax growth that won’t survive the frost. Hebes are strong plants that withstand high winds. Although some hebes are hardy, others can suffer from frost damage to new shoots. Protect your hebes, if necessary, against the frost.
How to grow hebes
Hebes are versatile plants that provide winter structure and a shiny colour palette in summer. If you want to add hebes to your border, containers, beds or patio, there are a few things you should keep in mind. Read more about hebe care in our Aftercare Advice.
- Plant hebes in spring – from April to May – when the soil is warming up. Never plant hebes in winter, as young hebe plants are too vulnerable to rotting in cold, wet soil.
- Choose a sunny location.
- Plant hebes in poor, well-drained soil.
- Water regularly after planting the first season, especially with warm, dry weather conditions.
- Once hebes are established, weekly watering is enough.
How to prune hebe
Most hebes don’t need annual pruning, as they’re slow growers and form a neat, rounded shrub. If your hebe needs a bit of a tidy-up, you can cut off stems and keep the shrub in a good shape. Deadhead faded flowers as soon as they have faded to keep the plant good-looking and fresh.
Buy Hebes at Garden Beauty
Garden Beauty offers a large range of hebe shrubs. Browse through our extensive range of hebes and pick your favourites. Select your amount of sun, the season of interest and soil type to see which varieties fit your garden best. We grow our plants in peat-free compost and will be sending your plants in plastic-free and recyclable packages. We hope you will be enjoying your hebes grown at our nursery in Southampton.