A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2006 Lavender

i have a lavender plant i bought last spring- it was a pretty good size. last summer it probably got about 8 inches tall sort of bushy all was good just now flowers. they are perrenials so i left it out all winter. i've noticed most of the branches are dead and it's starting to sprout new leaves from the base of the plant so it's not completely dead. i've never owned a lavender so is this normal or was it really to cold for it outdoors? will it get as big during the summer again? how long before i get flowers??

My mom grows lavender and we're in zone 5b...so I can't see it being the weather. Hers are already larger this year than they were last year with lots of flowers. I'm not sure what could be going on with yours. I'd cut off the dead branches and hope that maybe it comes back. I hope someone else comes along to help you more. They sure are beautiful aren't they?

I have Munstead lavender and I always prune it back a couple of inches to the new growth in the spring. I never prune it until I see some of the fresh green growth near the base of the plant. I am in zone 5.

One thing I saw on a garden show, and I think it might apply to your lavendar - if you cut a plant like that back, the hormones that are in the top of the plant have nowhere to go, and channel back downward.
This is why pruned plants, especially shrubs, come back stronger than before. According to the show, that is.
You'll need a healthy plant to get flower stalks.
If it were mine I'd prune it back and hope for basal growth.
BTW, lavendar lives only about 3 years, and there's no way of telling the age when you buy a mature plant.
Safest to buy the baby plants or do seeds. I don't know anything about their germination though.
Good luck with your lavendar !

thanks- didn't know that it only lives 3 years. hmm.... i just thought with proper care it'd live forever! and i'm not quite sure which variety it is.

My neighbor has a huge rosemary, the biggest one I have ever seen. I mean it's a tree.
She says it's 20 years old. She's lived there 30 years so I see no reason to doubt her.
The rosemary is in a huge pot on her front porch.
Gorgeous ! And what an entryway plant, so showy and so fragrant.

lavendar needs to be cut back every year...i didn't know that and lost mine after a few years...

i just bought another one. munstead this go 'round and i plan on taking care of it correctly this time!!

PA Gardner - I was new to lavender too - I didn't know to cut it back in the spring - so in a frantic chance someone on the forum could help I posted my photos before cutting back

before cutting

That's what it looked like before I got lots of great and helpful tips from the forum. I cut all my plants back (and I have about 6 of them) back about 2/3 of the way down but NOT into the thick brown woody stems - I had some new growth showing as well, and now almost all have buds on them. Here's a photo from about 1 month ago - it looks so much better!
lavender 1 month ago

Anyways - I hope you have good luck with your lavender. This will be my 2nd growing season with these plants - they were here when we moved in - I hope they last longer than one more year - good luck! I am interested to see what happens

i think, if they're maintained properly - read: pruned - that they should thrive and last for years!!

av8trx, yours looks terrific!!

av8trx.., Alright Looking good

I'm so glad your lavender perked up and is rewarding you with healthy growth!!

wow! it looks so much better than mine! i'm going to make a trip up to the local nursery today and see if they have sand, since everything around here is heavy soil! for now i just shoveled up the soil around the plant so it would dry out a bit and get some more air down there. we'll see. it's not 100% dead so there is hope! LOL

I prune my lavender the way patches described. They were neglected and in terrible shape when I moved in, but revived and are beautiful after 2 spring prunings.

Does anyone have some knowledge about moving lavender plants? I have five established English Lavender plants that I would like to relocate. Do lavender plants take well to moving? If so, any tips on a successful move?
Thanks!

I have 14 lavander plants, all different types and sizes. I tried moving one, the roots are very big and deep. I would not try it, the plant died anyway after moving, and all that work. I prune mine every spring about 1/3 to 1/2 off the tip growth. BTW, mine are over 15 yr. old, some are 20 yr. old. I have done a lot of cuttings to start new plants to give away. They take well in summer. I just take tip cuttings, about 6 in. long, strip bottom leaves off the cutting, and I put about 6 cuttings in a 4 in. pot with seed starting mix. Do not keep super wet, as they will rot. I keep them in the shade while they are growing roots, like under an apple tree.
Darlene

I bought lavander for the first time this year. All your info. is so helpful. i enjoy reading all your post. I can tell in no time my yard and gardens will be beautiful,thanks.