Fashion affects the world of garden design and landscape architecture in the same way it influences the colours and styles we choose for our homes and wardrobes. Social and economic changes can also determine different fashions, e.g. the tight skirts fashionable during the war years were mainly due to a shortage in materials, and likewise gardens at that time became practical spaces for growing food rather than the luxury of displaying flowers.

Generally speaking however, fashion is cyclical and trends can re-emerge in different guises with new twists, using modern materials and up to date techniques to re-launch an old favourite. Heathers were once a popular garden plant, but have gradually lost popularity in recent years. Adrian Bloom pioneered the use of heathers in the 1960s, displaying them in large swathes against a backdrop of conifers within a rockery or an island bed. At the time this was a successful technique, which showed the colours and varieties of heathers, and gave good ground cover and seasonality. However, times have changed and today’s gardeners demand a broader planting palette.

The British Heather Growers Association commissioned us to design for small garden at the RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show in 2009, which would help to raise awareness of the aesthetic and environmental value of heathers in a 21st century garden. The challenge was to increase the popularity of these undervalued, yet versatile plants and our task was to design a family garden which was bright and stylish, gave all year round interest in an easy to manage setting. The garden had to captivate the imaginations of a younger generation of gardeners within a tight budget. It also had to meet the very high standards of the RHS.

One myth we wanted to dispel was that all heathers need acid soil when in fact many of them can be a valuable element in a mixed scheme in alkaline soil. Winter-flowering varieties in particular are lime tolerant and fill a seasonal gap, providing colour in a garden when other shrubs are still bare. As winter recedes, spring emerges and bulbs and buds are just beginning to surface, the winter flowering heather species will be in full bloom and adding colour and scent to the garden. The summer-flowering varieties which need acid soil can also be a successful addition to a border, as long as their needs are met. Heathers have many diverse, yet overlooked qualities, and year round appeal. They are colourful and drought tolerant, as well as attracting pollinating insects.

We experimented with different ways to display heathers as part of a contemporary scheme, using various techniques to illustrate their compatibility with other shrubs and perennials and to give them centre stage. Erica erigena “Brian Proudly” was used as a heather hedge. All cultivars of Erica erigena would make a suitable hedge but “Brian Proudly” is especially effective as its width is only half its height. Aluminium planters displayed topiaried heathers (Erica erigena “Ting Nee”), to show that they can take clipping and provide shaped forms with seasonal colour, which other topiary plants are unable to do.

Green walls are currently very much in vogue, and we used heathers as a living wall by tightly packing trays of Erica carnea “Foxhollow” into vertical frames. They will grow indefinitely in this way if kept irrigated and closely clipped. Their fresh lime-coloured foliage is stunning during the summer, but a touch of frost will give it a reddish tinge. Then, as the season turns, a wall of pale pink emerges when the spring flowers develop. What value! The garden show takes place in July, so in order to promote the varieties that flowered later in the year a combination of Agapanthus and Echinacea, Verbena and Allium were woven through a tapestry of Ericas, Callunas and Daboecias. The foliage of the winter flowering heathers provided a perfect foil for the differing textures of the perennials.

Prior to the Flower Show our knowledge of heathers was limited and they were never included in our planting plans. However, we have learned that they still deserve a place in the modern garden and have since used them in many of our schemes. Our efforts at the Show earned us a Silver-Gilt medal.