Lavender

Hi All,

I have a couple of questions regarding lavender that I have recently planted in the garden.

My first question is, does the lavandula papillon look ok in the 2 photos below, to me it seems a little flat, and doesnt seem to be growing as upright as the photos I have seen.

My second question, also based on the 2 photos below, have I planted the 3 lavender (Cotton lavender, English lavender, Papillon lavender) too close to each other, I know they can take 2 - 5 years to reach their max size.





Thanks in advance.

 

All look fine to me they are young plants so the flowering stems can be very soft and I have e feeling the one flowering has just come out of a green house , a bit too close but then they will all knit together to make a really impressive clump, I think out of the 3 varieties you have the English will grow the tallest so just keep that in mind it is a stronger grower

 

great, many thanks , The English lavender was the latest to be added, and to be honest is my favourite type, will be interesting to see what it eventually looks like with 3 different types knitting together.

 

Welcome to Gardeners Corner

 

I have a huge clump of cotton lavender, bottom left in your picture, HATE it, small yellow flowers, I cut them off as they appear, although I like the leaves, very fast growing, will pull it out when weather improves, as its the side of my greenhouse, and i think hiding slugs. Another plant to be consigned to the green area the side of my property.

Sorry nearly forgot

 

Thanks for the welcomes ,

I liked the look of the cotton lavender in the photos I see, but it remains to be seen if it looks as nice in real life. Do the bees like it?

If it is decided I dont like it, I'll replace it with some more english lavender,

I have quite a long flower bed which is part of a new garden, but it seems I have run out of space to put things now lol.

 

Welcome to gardening..

 

One more question Lavender related, I read that if you dead head Lavendula stoechas Papillon it encourages more flowering the same year.

My question is, at what point is the lavender flower considered ready for dead heading?

If you look at the photo of one of my lavender heads, the large petals on top look fine, and the head is still in colour, but the little flowers that the bees visits on the head are all gone

 

Welcome to GC, adamsh. I would leave on the lavender heads as long as you think they still look good, which the one above still does, in my opinion.

The cotton lavender tends to lose its shape a bit after flowering and as it grows, leaving long mishapen half dead bits, so regular clipping is good. In fact, I think they look good as small sculpted foliage plants as the flowers are quite loud.

The lavender needs a good shearing every year to keep it more compact but don't go back into old wood, only clip where it is green.

The L Stoechas is somewhat tender so can be short-lived, so that may solve your spacing problem for you.