"Judith in France" wrote in message
...
On Oct 27, 2:22 pm, Kate Brown wrote:
On Tue, 27 Oct 2009, Judith in France wrote



On Oct 26, 7:18 pm, Kate Brown wrote:
On Mon, 26 Oct 2009, wrote

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

Am v far from being an expert, but have had good results with
lavender -
not in pots but in the infrequently watered front garden. I've been
cutting back a bit but not viciously, then waiting until spring to see
where the sprouts are sprouting from. It's standard to say don't cut
into the woody stem, but if there are good little sprouts coming out of
the woody bases then once they look established we've been cutting back
fairly hard. That means by about March we've been able to cut off all
last year's straggly bits, leaving a fresh growth that has grown and
flowered through until September.

This didn't work with some lavender (same variety) we had in France,
which had just gone a bit too far. We cut back as in England, but there
were no sprouts from the woody stems, and the plants remained very
straggly and not very elegant, even when in full bloom. However, the
bees still adored them!

--
Kate B

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

Once, years ago I hacked at a low Lavender hedge that was out of
control, I took it down substantially, it never recovered, it
remained, straggly.

That's right, you have to wait until early spring to see - if they are
producing sprigs from the woody base, you can cut down to just above
those. Keep an eye out. It surprised me to see this happen the first
time as I thought the woody bits would remain bare. The plants were
about three years old then. I've never spotted such sprigs on the
lavender we have in France, but that may be because we aren't there
quite early enough in the year (ancient cottage means ancient drafts and
no central heating!) - it's possible that it sprouts but the sprouts die
off.

--
Kate B

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

Interesting Kate, I'll bear that in mind for the next lavender hedge.
I lost a beautiful lavender last year, a French one, I have no idea
why.

Judith


Hi Judith,

The French lavender, L. Stoechas, is less hardy than the English type. Your
garden was under snow last winter, if you remember, so I think that is your
explanation.

Spider