Topic: Lavender - looking sick

[PakChoi]

Hello.  I can't remember if my lavender looked this sad last autumn or winter.  They have not been frosted, but it has been quite wet.  They had a light prune, taking just the flowers, some weeks ago.

Now, they are very blackened looking other than the last 3 or 4 inches of each shoot, which are still green.   While I have some cuttings in a cold frame as back up, I do hope the rest are ok.  Is this normal for a wet autumn or a sign of some problem?

Regret I cannot post a picture but hope you get my drift.
 

[Palustris]

Do you mean they have gone black from the soil upwards or black from the tip downwards?. I know our lavender look very sick at present from the lack of Sun to ripen the growth as well as the overwatering.

[PakChoi]

Black from the soil upwards.  They look a little better having dried out a bit now.
Most of the plants are about 3 years old but are still a nice shape.  

[Palustris]

All you can do is wait and see what happens in Spring.  Since you have taken cuttings, you could then replace if needed. I reckon to replace about a third of all our lavenders every year,since they do not seem to last much longer than 3 years here.

[teresa]

All I can add is lavender is very easy to grow from seed so give that a go also it thrives on poor well drained soil so the next lot you put in add drainage it has been so wet this autum.

[ACE]

 They had a light prune, taking just the flowers, some weeks ago.


 

English lavender needs a good cutback to 3 to 4 inches,  french lavender needs to be cut back by half now and half  that again in the spring then they will have fresh healthy growth each year and will keep a good shape and last for years.

[Palustris]

Just remember they will NOT shoot from old wood only from new growth.

[William O]

Now, they are very blackened looking other than the last 3 or 4 inches of each shoot, which are still green.

This is quite normal, the stembases wil get leggy in time. To keep the shrub as bushy as possible you take back about 2 inch of the new growth, but be sure not to cut back beyond the leafy bit. It won't grow back from bare wood.