A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2006 Q's about Lavender

Living in Northern Alambama.
I have 2 acres of field that I want to turn into a GIANT lavender field. Does anybody know which lavender is the best to plant? soil is RED alabama Clay and rocky I was hoping not to have to do anything to the soil. Area is SUNNY most of the day.

Lavender needs extremely well drained soil and will only tolerate clay soil in extremely dry climates, so you will need to ammend your soil with lots of organic matter or soil conditioner. They also need alkaline soil, so you may need to apply lime as well. The most cold hardy lavenders are the English types (Lavender augustifolia) like 'Hidcote', 'Graves' and 'Mitcham Gray.'

Thank you. It is well drained soil. And VERY sunny just it is Alabama Clay. I was wanting to be lazy and NOT do anything to the soil. I kind of have the phylosophy "if I plant it in a spot and it grows it was suppose to be there if it dies over the winter it was not". My neighbor just got rid of her horses and had a MOUND of Horse Manure that I took and put all over the field. I was going to leave it that way through December and put lime on it in January. I think there is a way to test the soil anybody know how to test the soil???

Your County Extension Office can help with a soil test kit. They are not expensive. Maybe $10 or $12. Could be free. Usually requires four to five small baggies of soil samples. In general, our clay soils are slightly acidic in the south. All the pine and oak matter decomposing. Depending on where you are in N. AL , your soil may be a little more alkaline due to the limestone subsurface.

I would also suggest looking at Auburn or Alabama University web sites for Extension Services for a list of state provided resources including Extension services. Whichever school has an Agriculture program will be more likely to house the site. The NC State one is quite good.

I grow a lot of lavander here in Wa. state....have over 15 huge plants. They do not do well in wet soil, they are more or less a dry soil, mediterean plant. But our soil is very acidic, and they do super great in that. But our soil drains super great. Just get a few plants, and put them in and see how they do. Then in summer, you can take cuttings and root them in soil.
Darlene

I do not know how to root plants...I was thinking the same thing, I mean about just planting them and see how they do. I found a Nursery with ROCK Bottom prices!!! That has lavender plants..So I was thinking the risk is not to high. I have a lot of LARGE Oak trees which have acidic leaves. So I think I will have to lime in the areas where the leaves fall. I could go back there and mow up all the Oak leaves.

Here's the link to the Nursery with Rock Bottom prices.

http://www.autumnridgenursery.com/index.cfm

Thanks for the soil test info. I am getting to be a smarter gardener everyday. <<<SMILE>>

Bonjour Oui, I have 100 huge oak trees and still have 2 thriving lavendars. I also have clay soil. The plants aren't directly under the trees and they get a lot of sun. Give it a try.

I have a lavender hedge in my garden and the soil is clay-like, they don't die but they just refuse to grow any larger, does anyone know, other than digging up the soil, how I can encourage them to grow?
I've tried compost, fetilizer and npothing seems to work.

Opps.... The typos strike again... *nothing

Pie eater,
*Very Cute name by the way*

Usually Lavendars like a unfertilized beds..

Basic soil, nothing fancy and a bit of compost for nutrition, but not much more...

They like a semi rocky conditions too,
and if you can lay some rocks on top of the soil
to keep it from splashing back up onto the plant.

I never even watered mine last year, except for
when mother nature did it, and they were happy..

Oui,
If you have a plant that is living and is in the
ground right now, you can probagate your lavendar,
by pulling down a stem, laying it side ways on the ground **do not detach it from the plant, just
lay it on it's side** and then take a tiny bit of soil, lay it on top of where a leave would come out of the stem~you can strip one or two of them if you need to right were the stem touches the soil~ and then put something heavy on top, like a rock, not too heavy where it crushes it, but something just to hold it down..
or something like a wire "U", do you know what I mean by those, they are used in wiring to put two or three wires together and as they wire them along the beams, they hold all the wires in place?
What I wouldn't give for a pen and paper !!!!!

But, the lavendar will root from that way..

If you do that method you can take a number of them from the plant and start it, but make sure you leave enough upright for the plant to maintain it's own food and such for it's sustainint it's self...

THANKS weezie I will try that. I have a friend that does that with her azaleas. <smile> Now I know what she is doing.

I'm currently "air layering" my camillia.I took spagum moss soaked it in root starter by MG.I squueze it out.I bought me a roll of that new cling wrap stuff "press& seal"(really kewl.I recomend a less windy day)I pressed it all about the moss stuff sealed it up& after eating a few more baked potatoes.I'll have all 10 starts covered with some foil(they said birds would try to take my moss) I DID scrape the wood& put a lil root hormone on the scrape before covering with moss& press& seal.I've NOT been able to ROOT camillia cuttings with any success.In the spring.I go cut some Gardenia& oak leaf Hydragea limbs,throw in some water in a 5 gallon bucket with about 6-8 inches of water& they all root.but I can't root salvia....not even with rooting hormone.I do good with oleander too ....if keep hubby away from them.I air layered some azealia before and they DID take.I planted them at lake lot and hubby& BIL managed to help them die.hubby has still abused this azealia.Its shape is just awful.I did improve its looks with a "skirt" of white PVC lattice& well see what it thinks of more sun this year.

Sorry got lost

I got a 4 way analizer for christmas from outsiders pride.tells
LIGHT
FERT
MOISTURE
PH

I it


Oh...before I eventually killed my lavender.I had sprinkled some sand around roots. she said would keep mildew down(it was when we was getting actual rainfall..right after our wettest month 17 inches)

And I forgot this site Melda had told me about.

http://www.purplehazelavender.com/growing.html

I did some lavender candles one year(4 yrs ago)I learned to be sure lavendar was completly dry when useing in candles.It changed color as it dried& after a week it was affecting my candle...still unburned.It didn't affect the bath salts.

I think I am going to plant Lavender and wild snapdragons. The wild snapdragons are perennials and multiply with great profusion.