Lavender - planting and care outdoors

2024 Author: James Gerald | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 14:00

In the design of the site, lavender has long and firmly taken its rightful place. No wonder. There is nothing difficult in planting and caring for a beautiful plant in the open field, which also has medicinal properties.

Varieties of lavender

More than 45 species of this plant are known. The most popular ones are:

1. English (narrow-leaved real) - with any mention of lavender, they mean it. The flowering period is June – July.
2. French (broadleaf) - more like a dwarf shrub. The flowers of the plant forming an ear are collected in rings. This type of lavender is never taller than 60 cm.
3. Dutch - it turned out as a result of crossing the first two types of lavender. The hybrid plant reaches two meters in height and the same in width.
4. Petiolate - a rounded shrub covered with narrow leaves and purple flowers that exude an incredible aroma.

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Landing options

There are three ways:

1. Seeds. You must purchase them in advance. The optimal time is the end of autumn - the beginning of winter. The seed is mixed with moistened sand and stored in a cold place for two months. For example, in the refrigerator on a shelf for storing vegetables. The preparatory procedure is called stratification. This method of planting has a number of indisputable advantages: the reasonable price of seeds, the plants grown from them develop a stable immunity to frost and various diseases. In February - March, seeds are sown for seedlings.
2. Cuttings. Last year's shoot, cut with a sharp knife, is cut into cuttings. The approximate length of each is 8-10 cm. Immediately before planting, they are soaked in a rooting stimulator. They are planted in light soil to a depth of 2-3 cm, covered on top, making it look like a mini-greenhouse. Care must be taken to keep the soil moist. Cuttings can be transplanted to a permanent place in 3–6 weeks, by which time they will have developed roots.
3. Layers. At the beginning of summer, a groove is prepared in advance, the lower shoot is bent to the bottom and placed in it. For fixing, use a wire or simply sprinkle it with earth. Shoots need regular watering. After a couple of months, the developed roots are separated from the shrub for transplantation to a permanent place.

How to sow seedlings

Planting and caring for lavender in open ground consists of the following steps:

1. A suitable container is filled with a pre-prepared substrate.
2. In order to remove all lumps, the soil mixture is sieved, the substrate is disinfected by choosing one of the methods (spilled with a solution of potassium permanganate or calcined in the oven at a temperature of 110-130 degrees).
3. Having made drainage holes in the box, lay out the filter and drainage layers. Fill in with substrate.
4. The stratified seed is spread evenly over the entire surface and sprinkled with sand about 3 millimeters.
5. The sowing is moistened with warm water from a spray bottle and covered with foil or glass, creating suitable conditions where it is warm and light. From time to time, the shelter needs to be opened slightly for ventilation.

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Seedling care

In order to delay the intensity of pulling the seedlings, after their appearance, it is necessary to provide them with regular highlighting, briefly removing the shelter. The airing time is increased daily, thereby gradually accustoming the shoots to new conditions. Then the film is completely removed, planting lavender (leaving a distance of 50 ml between the bushes) in more spacious boxes.

Landing in open ground

The last days of May are the most suitable time for planting seedlings in the soil. For culture, open, sunny areas are best.

Lavender doesn't like too much moisture. Consequently, such places are immediately excluded. The area where the plant will be planted is prepared:

• dig up;
• loosen;
• make compost or peat.

Depending on the varieties of seedlings, each bush is planted at a distance of 0.8 to 1.2 meters. The planting hole must match the size of the root system. Seedling roots need a little pruning before planting. The bush is placed in a prepared hole, covered with earth and watered abundantly.

Garden lavender care

To strengthen and form the root system, the inflorescences that appear on the seedlings must be cut off. In the first season, you should not expect intensive growth from the plant.

You will have to remove weeds in a timely manner in order to protect young bushes, regularly apply potash fertilizers throughout the summer with an interval of once every two weeks. Manure is not suitable, as it promotes active growth of green mass, which is unnecessary in the case of lavender.

To prevent plant diseases, you need to prune, remove dried branches. To facilitate the care of lavender, the soil around it is mulched with a special mixture or tree bark.

Lavender is a moisture-loving plant, but watering should be done in moderation. In hot weather - more often. Immediately after this, it is advisable to loosen the soil between the bushes, removing all weeds.

Preparation for wintering

After planting lavender in open ground, you need to take care of it. The English variety has established itself as frost-resistant, which cannot be said about its French relative. It is highly likely that he will not survive the harsh days and will freeze out.

Therefore, it is better to grow it in pots in order to bring it into a warm room when cold weather sets in. Or take care of a good shelter under which the plant will feel comfortable.

A hut built of coniferous branches will protect the bush from freezing. Many people use foliage for shelter, which is wrong, it often causes the plant to rot. In the central regions, lavender is harvested in November.

Preparing for winter also means pruning. On this occasion, disputes among gardeners do not subside. Some are of the opinion that this is not worth doing, since the spreading bushes help trap snow, creating a good shelter.

Others are sure that long shoots are most susceptible to breaking and freezing. Both are right in their own way, respectively, whether to trim or not is a purely private affair of each owner of the site.

The most difficult period for lavender is not winter, but spring, when the snow begins to melt and the probability of night frosts is high, which is fraught with the formation of ice on the soil. It prevents air from entering the root system, which makes the plant prone to rotting. The correct shelter will help save the bushes from the changeability of spring weather:

1. To prevent snow from getting inside, the branches must be tied.
2. It is good to mulch the soil around the bush.
3. Cover the bushes with pine or spruce branches.

French lavender tolerates the worst winter. After planting in open ground, it needs more careful care. In addition to hilling and a reliable shelter for the shrub, each plant must be wrapped in straw.

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During the winter, you need to regularly (especially on rainy days) inspect the plantings. If a strong wind has broken the protective layer, fix it.

An insulated veranda or terrace is suitable for wintering potted plants, in the city there is a glazed loggia. As a last resort, you can bring the plant into the apartment. But then all winter shoots must be cut off in the spring.

Proper care of lavender will certainly reward the grower with beautiful, abundant flowering. And then it will delight the eye throughout the summer.

Summarize

1. The most popular types of lavender are French, Dutch, Petiolate and English. Most often, when they talk about lavender, they mean the latter.
2. Beauty is not the only virtue of the plant. Flowers have a great aroma and medicinal properties, so the plant is often used in the manufacture of medical and cosmetic products.
3. Planting lavender is possible in three ways: by seeds, cuttings and layering. Low price, development of immunity to frost - these qualities are inherent in the first option.
4. Caring for lavender includes timely watering, fertilizing, loosening the soil, mulching, and pruning.