"Kate Brown" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 26 Oct 2009, Spider wrote
wrote in message
...
I have a couple of lavender in big pots outside my front door, but they
haven't been watered as well as they probably should. They've been
there
for 2 years and they didn't flower very well this year. (they don't get
an amazing amount of light, and I'm terrible for remembering to water,
and being by the front door they don't get much natural rain, on the
rare occasions it bothers to rain atm!)

I've just chopped them back quite a bit tonight (got to love the
gardening in the dark process at this time of year!) but they are ...
straggley looking and quite woody. How far should I cut them back? I
don't want to kill them, but if they're only going to perform as well as
this year (or worse) it might be better if I chuck them and get
something new for next year.

Any advice from lavender experts appreciated (other than "remember to
water them occasionally!" - I already got that one!)

Thanks


Hi Vicky,

Lavenders will not sprout from old wood, so if you're looking at bare wood
then I think you need to start again. Your lavenders will sprout again
from
healthy green shoots that survive the winter, but not on bare wood below
that.

I have to say that that hasn't been my experience, and jolly surprised I
was too. It's true with old plants that have got very woody (like my
mother's ten-year-olds, which flourish but are now small trees), but not
with our plants that are four or five years old - come spring, ours send
out little grey tufts from the woody base, and when the sprigs are looking
established we can cut down to just above them. Perhaps it's a particular
kind? I can't remember what they were, I thought Hidcote but may well be
wrong.
--
Kate B

PS 'elvira' is spamtrapped - please reply to 'elviraspam' at cockaigne dot
org dot uk if you want to reply personally


Yes, you're quite right, Kate; I've had that experience, too. However,
Vicky seemed not to admire the "straggley-looking .. quite woody" appearance
of her plants and, since they're by her front door, I can quite understand
that. Of course, she still has the option of moving her potted lavenders to
the back garden to experiment on. My advice was aimed at prettying up {new
verb! :~)} her frontage next summer. Since her front door is in the shade,
she could try pots of fuchsia, begonia or impatiens instead, although - with
the exception of a hardy fuchsia - these will need winter protection or
replacing each summer. Any lavender, unfortunately, is going to become
leggy in shade, so that doesn't seem like an option.

Incidentally, I've found that a number of lavenders produce spriggy growth
on oldish wood, so it may not be due to L. 'Hidcote' or other cultivar.
However, I lost my L. dentata in its first winter; whether that's down to me
or that particular species, I don't know. I'm currently growing a L.
stoechas form in my front garden (SE London), and I know they're not as
hardy as the English lavender, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Spider