Re: Lavenders

At 01:41 PM 8/6/2004, kkonrad1@ix.netcom.com wrote:
I'll ask a question...
I'm in the SF Bay Area, and am probably a Sunset Zone 16, or maybe 17, which I think is a regular zone 8. Anyway, I have about 6 lavenders in my yard (need to get more!), and my two oldest plants, which are actually lavendins - Provence - are starting to get quite woody underneath. They are still growing well, and are large with great flowering, but they are almost 5 years old. Do they need to be replaced periodically? I prune after the flowerheads are all dried up, going down a few inches into the greenery past the stalks. Is this too little? I've also tried taking cuttings using the Oasis blocks, but nothing has taken. Any advice?
Kris

Hi Kris -

I grow a number of lavenders with pretty good success. Those with more L. angustifolia blood do tend to have sudden die back or die out-right, largely, I think, because of our richer, heavier soils. These plant like very stoney, well-drained soil, and while they will grow luxuriantly on a rich soil for the first few years, this tends to cause the early death gardeners complain about.

My best advice for growing these is:
- good sunny exposure
- good air circulation
- poor, stoney, alkaline soil, even with rocks and chunks of concrete in it!!!
- do not fertilize
- water very sparingly, if at all, during the summer
- cut back well (as you mention), eventually forming a good dome-shape (this helps traps cooler air ambient humidity within the foliage crown during dry spells).

Cutting can be made from soft-wood set into a mix of perlite, vermiculite, and sand - use of rooting hormone if helpful. Make several cuttings to maximize success rate.

Interspecific hybrids like the Lavadins (L. intermedia), L. heterophylla, L. "Goodwin Creek", L. "Richard Gray", etc. are often easier to grow and more robust in their growth, flowering longer as well.

BTW - The many, many L. "stoechas" cultivars that abound in nurseries today, with various colored flowers and bracts, are less adaptable to the harsh treatment mentioned above. They are generally hybrids of L. stoechas and L. viridis, a tender Canary Island species. These tend to grow fast and lush, responding to water and rich soil, and sulking in heat and drought. True L. stoechas cultivars are hardier and tougher and drought tolerant. But this species also prefers a more neutral to slightly acid soil.

Good luck!
Seán O.

h o r t u l u s   a p t u s     -    'a garden suited to its purpose'
Seán A. O'Hara   sean@support.net   www.hortulusaptus.com
1034A Virginia Street, Berkeley, California 94710-1853, U.S.A.

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