You can shear them after they bloom and in fact, should.

Don't cut into dry brown wood though because they don't regrow from it.

We have just moved into a new house and have 2 very large heather plants in the yard which have been neglected for probably 10 years. I have trimmed them after they bloomed and now am thinking of splitting them into 2 or more plants and relocating them. Can this be done?

I agree, they don't respond well to rejuvenation pruning or transplanting. Rip them out and start over.

You say not to cut into brown wood. I bought a bunch of heathers to plant on a hill we just landscaped originally thinking they were juniper. They were clearanced for end of season at Lowe's.

They all have decent green middles, but a lot of dead brown stuff around the outside. They're all pretty small as well too (I think they are 1 gal containers). I just have a couple more to plant. Was going to wait till spring then cut off the brown parts -- will that work?

thanks for the info, rockspray. I didn't plant the others that deep, but will be sure to do so with the remaining plants. will add some extra dirt around the base of those i did plant to make sure they're protected.

research has told me that i shouldn't really need to protect them in zone 7 (southern md), and that he complimentary dead foliage from lowe's will help. would you agree?

since figuring out that these are heathers, i've been turned on to all the fun varieties of heath/heather - i may eventually hit you up for some winter-bloomers. thanks!