Hi

Can anyone advise what is the best way to deal with a lavender plant that is
growing out of control. It is about 3 years old and has grown quite big.
The top of the stem has plenty of leaves and buds but the lower part is
quite woody and bare, is this because it hasn't been cut back properly?

Should I divide this up into smaller plants? If yes when and how is best to
do it?

All help appreciated as I am only a novice at gardening.

Lavender tends to get woody and somewhat unsightly over time so it is
best to take cuttings and then discard the mother plant when the
cuttings have developed sufficiently - about 18 months.

Take 3-4" cuttings of ripe, non-flowering shoots in August and insert
them in equal parts (by volume) of loam and perlite in a cold frame.
Overwinter the rooted cuttings in the cold frame and transplant to their
flowering positions in March or April.

Remove dead flower stems and lightly trim the plants in late summer.
Straggly plants may be cut hard back in late March or April to promote
bushy growth and to encourage new growths from the base.

Regards,
Emrys Davies.





"buttonsmum" wrote in message
...
Hi

Can anyone advise what is the best way to deal with a lavender plant
that is
growing out of control. It is about 3 years old and has grown quite
big.
The top of the stem has plenty of leaves and buds but the lower part
is
quite woody and bare, is this because it hasn't been cut back
properly?

Should I divide this up into smaller plants? If yes when and how is
best to
do it?

All help appreciated as I am only a novice at gardening.

"buttonsmum" wrote in message
...
Hi

Can anyone advise what is the best way to deal with a lavender plant that
is
growing out of control. It is about 3 years old and has grown quite big.
The top of the stem has plenty of leaves and buds but the lower part is
quite woody and bare, is this because it hasn't been cut back properly?

Should I divide this up into smaller plants? If yes when and how is best
to
do it?

All help appreciated as I am only a novice at gardening.

I am experimenting on one of my lavender bushes this year, it had suffered
quite extenisve die back, and when I ripped it out I noticed that one branch
was still alive, and well supplied with green/grey leaves. I dug a nice
large hole, cut off all the dead wood, and put this lavender back in the
hole, only about a foot deeper than it had been. Figured I had nothing to
lost, and since it's part of a lavender hedge, it would be nice if the same
plant would survive. Well thus far it's looking good, yes it's currently a
bit short, about a foot oddly enough!, but it does seem to be growing.

Maybe you could try something similar, I wanted to know whether the plant
would root from the old, now buried wood, and whether it'd grow on nicely.

Duncan

Thanks for the advice, I'll give it a go
" Emrys Davies" wrote in message
...
Lavender tends to get woody and somewhat unsightly over time so it is
best to take cuttings and then discard the mother plant when the
cuttings have developed sufficiently - about 18 months.

Take 3-4" cuttings of ripe, non-flowering shoots in August and insert
them in equal parts (by volume) of loam and perlite in a cold frame.
Overwinter the rooted cuttings in the cold frame and transplant to their
flowering positions in March or April.

Remove dead flower stems and lightly trim the plants in late summer.
Straggly plants may be cut hard back in late March or April to promote
bushy growth and to encourage new growths from the base.

Regards,
Emrys Davies.





"buttonsmum" wrote in message
...
Hi

Can anyone advise what is the best way to deal with a lavender plant
that is
growing out of control. It is about 3 years old and has grown quite
big.
The top of the stem has plenty of leaves and buds but the lower part
is
quite woody and bare, is this because it hasn't been cut back
properly?

Should I divide this up into smaller plants? If yes when and how is
best to
do it?

All help appreciated as I am only a novice at gardening.