Evergreen plant, known for its medicinal properties since ancient times, absolutely unpretentious to soils, able to grow in the forest, in wastelands and marshes - this is an ordinary heather. Charming, modest, unpretentious ... What is heather?
Description of common heather
This is an evergreen plant, whose life cycle is about four decades.
Outwardly low (from 20 cm to 1 meter) heather flower is characterized by a highly branched, reddish-brown stem. The leaves are very small, trihedral, located opposite. The flowers are lilac-pink, drooping, collected in one-sided brushes. The fruit is a box (most often four-celled) with many small seeds, the ripening of which occurs in early autumn. Blooming heather, which lasts almost the entire summer, is an incredibly enchanting lilac-pink spectacle that fascinates and falls in love with itself.
Heather breeding: methods
Heather propagation is made in several ways: dividing the bush, cuttings and seeds. Most suitable for future plants is soil consisting of river sand, peat and coniferous land. The container in which the seeds will be sown must be covered with glass (thus creating a mini-greenhouse) until seedlings appear. Watering is required from the spray gun approximately once a week. Literally in a month young heather plants will appear, which, with the aim of hardening, is recommended to be taken to fresh air in the summer. In a separate flower pot, they can be determined after 8-10 months.
Propagation by cuttings is made from the strongest shoots that have bloomed. Their cutting is done at the end of summer. Heather seedlings need to be rooted in separate containers with a loose, constantly moist mixture of sand and peat in equal proportions. The most comfortable temperature for rooting is +20 .
The most reliable and most commonly used method of reproduction is the division of heather roots. This manipulation is performed during the transplant; the earthen lump needs to be divided into parts that need to be planted in separate pots. Next, transplanted plants should be regularly watered and fed.
How and when to plant heather
It is best to plant heather in spring (early May), in a sunny, open area, protected from cold, piercing winds. During the season, the evergreen bush manages to adapt, take root and completely mature before the onset of cold weather. Thus, the plant will endure wintering quite calmly. Heather, which is planted in the fall (September-October), can take root well and delight with its flowering, but it can also die, because there is a risk of winter frostbite, because the plant does not have time to adapt to changing temperature conditions.
Before planting, the root lump needs to be watered abundantly, until it gets completely wet. Then the plant is planted in the soil: it is recommended to place no more than 15 short or 8 tall units of the plant on one square meter. In a couple of years, the landing site will be decorated with a beautiful heather carpet.
When growing heather in a garden or in a flower pot, a plant cultivated for no more than one year can extend the life cycle for the next season. To do this, a week after the completion of flowering, you need to cut the shoots and determine the heather bush in the fresh air. Then you need to make a complete feeding cycle in combination with pruning. It is worth remembering that home- grown heather is often exposed to pests such as spider mites or aphids; too high humidity can cause fungal diseases.
Heather Care
What is heather and how to care for it? Heather, which is translated from Greek as “clean”, is absolutely not capricious in care, and for a long period it can do without watering, provided that it does not grow on sandy or peaty soil. In this case, the plant needs to be provided with moisture, otherwise it will dry out.
As top dressing, it is recommended to use mineral preparations. The best for heather is fertilizer for azaleas, which must be used in accordance with the instructions on the package. Top dressing is done every spring; when it is introduced, avoid getting drugs on the leaves of the plant.
Pruning heather shoots is recommended for the third year, in the fall, after the plant ceases to bloom. Shoots need to be cut a little below the inflorescence with a small capture of old wood.
Common heather: useful properties
Growing heather is a simple process and brings great benefits. Its harvesting is carried out from the end of June to September - the time when the shoots contain the maximum amount of substances useful for the body: vitamins, minerals, organic acids, flavonoids. What is heather and what benefits does this plant bring to man?
Medicines prepared on the basis of heather ordinary have a calming, disinfecting, diuretic, anti-acid, anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, expectorant, diaphoretic, wound healing effect. The plant helps to accelerate blood coagulation, is effectively used in the treatment of gout, urolithiasis, cough, cystitis, pulmonary tuberculosis, gastritis and other diseases. Heather juice is effective for tonsillitis, pharyngitis, stomatitis, and is used to rinse a sore throat and oral cavity. Heather broths treat stomach diseases, dysentery, allergies, eczema and other diseases. External use of a decoction or powder of shredded heather flowers helps with ulcers, wounds, burns. Heather baths are used for radiculitis, bruises, dislocations, fractures and swelling of the legs.
Heather when looking after looks
Common heather, useful properties and application of which are in demand in folk medicine, is very useful for external beauty. His infusion is used against hair loss (by rubbing into the scalp), to give the hair a natural shine and natural density.
Common heather, ledum, the description of which is interesting for connoisseurs of traditional medicine, are excellent tools that contain a lot of useful components and are used in the treatment of a large number of diseases.
Heather Medicines Prescriptions
To prepare the broth, 20 grams of flowers and leaves of heather (in crushed form) are required to fill in 200 grams of boiling water and darken in a water bath for a quarter of an hour. Next, cool and strain. A therapeutic agent is recommended to be consumed 2-3 times a day, 70 ml before a meal. Decoctions are an excellent preventive tool that helps strengthen immunity.
What is heather - true connoisseurs of traditional medicine know. Heather tea, which has a sedative effect, is prepared from two teaspoons of flowers (you can herb), which you first need to pour a glass of boiling water, then boil for 10 minutes, strain and drink in a warm condition, one cup once a day.
Recipe for tincture of heather: 10 grams of dry roots to combine with 50 ml of 70% alcohol; the resulting composition is insisted for 2 weeks in a dark place. Then strain and use three times a day in the amount of 30-40 drops before eating.
Heather baths with a calming effect are effective. For their preparation, 50 grams of herb should be steamed in 7 liters of boiling water. Insist for half an hour, strain. Pour the resulting composition into the bath and take the procedure.
Useful heather compresses
Heather compresses are used in the treatment of joint diseases, arthritis, rheumatism, polyarthritis. For cooking, you need 1.5 cups of boiling water to pour a tablespoon of heather, using a thermos for this. Insist herbal composition for 2 hours. Then you need to put gauze tissue in several layers, moisten it abundantly in the infusion and apply it to sore spots for 30-60 minutes.
This miraculous heather honey
Heather honey is very valuable. Having a dark red hue, this product has a very rich aroma, tart taste with a small bitterness and contains a large amount of nutrients. During prolonged storage, it does not crystallize, but coagulates, acquiring a jelly-like structure due to its rich content of protein substances. It is used for diseases of the bladder; with the help of this product, they effectively fight gout and rheumatism. This is an excellent remedy for insomnia: one tablespoon at night guarantees a calm, sound sleep.
Heather honey is good for people with chronic stomach ailments. Fully reveals its properties in the treatment of infectious polyarthritis, bronchitis and asthma. For people with allergic manifestations, its use is undesirable.
The use of heather in order to improve health has a number of contraindications. So, heather is not recommended for use in case of gastric diseases, tendency to constipation, as well as individual intolerance.
The use of heather in other directions
In addition to the medical direction, heather is used in many areas of human life. Delicious wines, aromatic tinctures and pleasant liquors are made from flowers. The tannins contained in its composition have coloring properties, so the tops of the stems are used for coloring leather and wool.
Heather is a valuable feed for livestock, located on the nutritional value between straw and hay and containing a large amount of vitamins.