Lavender

Hi all.
Attached are a couple of photos of a lavender I have in the garden. They aren't brilliant though.
The bush is huge but seems to have gone splat in the middle so I have a gaping hole, in effect (picture 1).
I will be trimming the flowers back soon
Is this what lavender does? I did wonder whether I could put some cable (or similar) and try and draw it in or has it just gone past the point of no return??
It seems a shame - looking at it from the sides it's magnificent but from above it's ugly.

Any ideas gratefully received.

 

Looking at it, I would suspect there has been a cat-pounce, or a dog-paw playing their part...

I would be reluctant to tie or move the general lie of the remaining healthy stems, so much risk of doing more damage to them as well. If you leave well alone, all those little side-shoots in the gap will shoot next spring, and fill in the hole for you.

...just my personal thoughts!

 

How old is the Lavender please, Fuschialady?

 

Good question, @Sheal. It is quite a big plant, so will be starting to get a little happy in the middle, unless you encourage it to regenerate.

I would be tempted to prune it. You have to be very careful when pruning lavenders, as I find there need to be 2-3 side-shoots below where you cut. It will not resprout from old wood. Many books will tell you to prune with shears, but on a single specimen plant, i would use secateurs and cut each stem individually. Yes, it takes time, but will look much better, much quicker.

You could prune now, so that the plant is ready to grow new shoots at the start of next year. Do you have bad winters with you?

If it helps, I have a low lavender hedge / edging on my path through my herb garden. They are much younger plants than yours (were 1 year old seedlings just 2 years ago). But in the past week I have cut them back, mostly stem by stem, ready for the winter, and to encourage them to bush and thicken. If you approach it in the right frame of mind, it is very therapeutic, even for 50+ plants!

 

Sheal- it's only about three years old but had gone mad this year in particular.
I was thinking about the pruning but the "splatted" bits in the middle (I'll try and do a clearer picture) look like old wood and shoots only start about a foot along them. My understanding was indeed that it won't sprout from old wood and if I cut it back as far as I can it will still look splatted but smaller!
Our winters aren't too bad usually so that's less of an issue.
Does anyone else have any views on the tying up suggestion? I'm not convinced it will work which is why I'm asking for expert's opinions .
Two more pictures with a foot rule (and a very pretty dandelion in the corner!) I still can't get a pic with a good sense of the width of the spread. Photography was never one of my talents!

 

Sorry ladies but I don't think tying up or pruning will make any difference. If you attempt to tie it Fuschialady then the stems are likely to snap. I think the fact that the wood is old has made it collapse in the middle. Lavenders should be pruned every year but unfortunately it doesn't make a great deal of difference to their aging process and eventually they become scruffy. Perhaps you should consider replacing it or taking cuttings to start afresh but there is another option below.......

This Lavender is actually a collection of three plants that look like one where they have filled out. It's a dwarf Lavender called 'Bush Baby' and the main plant doesn't grow any taller than 12 inches, the flower stems grow between 2 to 3ft tall which actually gives the plants the appearance of being one standard Lavender. They are three years old and have never been pruned, they don't need to be pruned apart from removing the flower stems when they have finished and being shorter plants they seem to maintain themselves. I grew them from seed.

Perhaps they would be better for you Fuschialady.

 

Thanks for all your wisdom! It would seem a shame to replace it as it does look glorious (from the side anyway) but if it's going to look empty in the middle it will offend me! Maybe I'll go for something like you suggested. I hadn't expected it to grow quite so large - I have 2 others elsewhere in the garden which are nothing like that huge. Not sure if I'm up to taking cuttings/growing from seed. My track record isn't brilliant.

 

Obviously this one being so prominent, with paths all around it, mean that you can stare straight down into the hole. Yet you have two smaller ones elsewhere...

How about this for an idea?
You lift this one, loosening it all around with a garden fork, then easing it out. You lift one of the others, the one that you are least able to "look down on from above" and swap the two around? A tidy-up/prune of this one would mean it will grow away again next year - at just 3 years old, it still has lots to give you, and your bees - and you have another one, already acclimatised to your soil, ready to grow away.

 

Interesting idea Sian. One I may have to take up. I certainly don't want to lose it- the bees are all over it.
I have tried to tie it up a bit and it looks a bit better although if you look closely you can see criss crossing of green string!
I also broke a couple of stems being less than gentle so I'm also trying to get some cuttings to take. It's frustrating when you look things up and one person says
a) you must use rooting powder and another says don't bother
b) you should cover it with a plastic bag and another says it's not necessary as lavender doesn't lose water easily.
What are we hopeless gardeners supposed to do??!

 

I don't use plastic bags or rooting powder, I just mist cuttings almost daily (kept in greenhouse) and I've had good levels of success. You want gritty, free draining compost for lavender cuttings and be prepared for a slow start!

 

I read somewhere a few years ago that if you take on 'old' bush and half bury it it will root from the stems. Not tried it myself though.