Lavender

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I use lavender a lot in gardens. It is deservedly a popular plant. For a start you get that gorgeous structural foliage in varying shades of grey/green, depending on the variety. You get flowers, mostly purple but also shades of mauve, pink and white. Personally, I prefer the purple and mauve colours. You get incredible scent. You get bees and with the recent decline in the number of bees supporting these pollinators is a very good thing to do. You get a long flowering season, from as early as May until you cut them. You can use the flowers either fresh or dried for a multitude of things. Lots of reasons to grow lavender.

There is this little area at the rectory formed like a thin wedge of cheese. It is where the gravel steps meet the gravel path to the greenhouse. Nothing was growing there. Actually, the gravel steps did not exist either, just a muddy garden path. I was planning to plant up a dozen lavenders along the edge of the wedge and came along a good offer of half a dozen lavender plants with pale green foliage.  Well they came home with me and have done a good job for the last two years at the rectory.

The grow to about 3 or 4 foot and make a serious statement. But they are getting a bit too big and are starting to obstruct access to the greenhouse.

August is the time when I trim lavenders. Yes, the flowers are still in bloom but if I cut them now, there is plenty of time before winter arrives for new foliage to appear and they will look great over the winter. I rather than a soggy tangled mess of stems.

So yesterday was time for drastic action. Out came hedge trimmer and secateurs and I cut them back a little harder than recommended. They will either come back and be a bit neater or they will be replaced with a named variety, probably 'Imperial Gem'. Please do not try this at home because lavenders will not readily reshoot from old wood.

The end result was this:

and several of this:

The lavender clippings were fed through the shredder and I have to say that was the most incredible experience. Much reduced in size, the lavender has been added to the compost heap where the woody material is expected to balance the grass clippings.