It's my fault...i didn't prune it back last fall after it grew huge over the summer. Now much of it is really scraggly, with growth at the tips and dead leaves in the middle and base.
i'm thinking that because was had a relatively mild winter, it never really stopped growing until maybe mid january/febuary, when it started getting cold. Now it looks horrible. I pruned it a little to get rid of totally dead branches, and took some tip cuttings two weeks ago that are rooting indoors. some even rooted in water, which i never saw before.
Anyway, how far back can I prune wuthout killing it? It's 3 years old, and about 3' long x 2' wide (I layered a branch into the ground to make it more like a hedge). last summer it bloomed profusely and beautifully all summer. I know my laziness is going to cost alot of blooms this summer, but I don't want to kill it completely. I made the cuttings just in case, but that will take another 2+ years to get into prime blooming size.
Drats, mea culpa! any suggestions on what to do?
thanks,
joy
Help with provence lavender in really bad shape!
HE HE! Sounds like on of my lavender bushes! With all the gnarled dead wood, it's beginning to look like a Joshua tree.
Not much you can do for it. If you prune past the growth points into dead wood, it won't regrow.
I've decided I can live with it looking the way it does, but If you can't you'll have to replace it. Have you thought about buying a more mature nursery plant? Splurge for your birthday or Mother's Day or something.
Wait until it puts out more new growth lower on the branches. It's still early so you still can get more new growth lower on the plant. I don't even have any new growth yet except on 3 Lavandula x intermedia "Grosso". All the other Lavenders still look grey. I've cut down to the lowest growth in the spring into what had previously looked like old wood. I never cut back in the fall. Ok, I do cut small pieces for package decoration in December, but the only major pruning is in the spring. I also cut all blooms off in early summer and do a light pruning then. They rebloom and I do cut back all blooms in the fall and lightly prune then.
thanks, for your help... i'll try it. i've done spring pruning too (never fall). it's hard to be patient for new growth, isn't it?
thanks,
joy
haven't checked the outdoor plants lately,
but i forgot about the cuttings i took and placed in water. i left them on a heat mat under lights in the basement and a few have grown water roots- i didin't think they could root in water...
does anyone know if they'll survive if i plant them up in pots and keep them on the heat mat?
thanks,
joy
Joy, at worse it won't be any different that sticking an unrooted cutting if the "water roots" turn out to be too fragile... I'd sure try it! I'd use little pots though, not more than 2 inch pots max, so the potting mix doesn't stay too soggy while the cuttings develop more roots... once they've filled the little pot with roots, it'll be time for a larger pot.
Good luck -- and I hope your outside plant starts coming around soon! I'm hoping the late season cold didn't damage my plants too badly... my fingers are crossed for all of us!
thanks critterologist.
my lavender seemed to be doing better, but now UGHHHH it's snowing! we'll see what happens now...
fingers crossed too...
joy
eskinola,
How are the lavender plants doing now? I just noticed some new growth lower on the stems just starting yesterday.
I've got a teeny bit of growth starting on mine also, so I'm hoping the weather didn't do them in after all. I had the lavender hedge along the driveway covered with flannel sheets for nearly a week during the last late cold spell!
there's a decent amount of top growth, but alot of stems seem to be dead with no growth at the bases. i guess i'll wait a week and see...
i almost uprooted my thyme which i thought was dead but now there is growth from old wood at the base so i suppose it pays to be patient for a little bit, especially this spring which is slowly arriving LOL.
Everything is delayed about 2 weeks here. I thought Md would be a little earlier even though we are in the same zone critter. Today it will be in the 70's so the plants should really start to put on new growth now.
As for the thyme, it does look like a bunch of dead wiry sticks until now. I use it as an edging plant in some places and I always forget it's not going to look pretty until after the daffodils.
You're right about the thyme.... some of mine started to come up during our early "fake spring," but others are only now starting to show the barest signs of life. I've got a patch of lemon thyme by the mailbox, probably 3 square feet, and only yesterday I spotted 3 teeny pairs of new leaves to tell me it wasn't a goner. LOL
I've got some lavender in the same condition as described above. This gives me hope, as I didn't know what to do with it. It has knew growth on the ends but looks dead everywhere else. I had considered cutting off the new growth to see if I could root it, but after reading this ... I think I'm going to just bide my time and leave it alone. My lemon thyme did the same thing. I got impatient with that one, though, and ordered a new plant. I just can't be without lemon thyme. :) Now it's got growth on the ends but looks horrid everywhere else. It seems to be a bit bitter compared to my new one, though.