Topic: Lavender

[pansy potter]

I am hoping to plant a lavender hedge. I want a small compact variety as I dont want it to spread out over the path. Has anyone got any ideas?

[goodlife]

Ohh...you are spoilt for choice then. There seem to be rather few large type lavenders in shops..usually just one or two different ones. Where as it is the compact ones are what are stocked more and more.
Hope you are aware.. even the 'compact' ones do grow leggy and not so compact if they are not regularly pruned. I would think them more of the way..'they are only compact when pruned to be so..' ;)
In fact..if you can get few 'left overs' from nursery..you could still produce plenty of new ones for nest summer planting..just plant them deep...half of the growth bellow ground..eventually all the branches will root and you just dig the whole lot out when they've put some new growth on. By then there should be some new roots and you can chop all branches into individual plants.
How long is your lavender hedge going be or how many plants are you after?... ;) ;) ;)

[pansy potter]

Thanks for the info Goodlife.I will probably need around 10 plants. I have learned that they like alkali soil so will lime the ground tomorrow. I do know that I have to prune them well every year but not into the old wood. I just thought that I would be edging my bets if I got a compact growing one.

[GrannieAnnie]

And I finally learned if the soil stays damp they don't like that. Mine that survived are planted on a mound of soil that drains quickly and used some stone mulch to not encourage rot which other mulch did. A lavender hedge sounds pretty.

[pansy potter]

Thanks for that too GrannieAnnie. Our soil is sandy so is well drained but I will take your advice and add some grit. Now to source the plants ;D

[grawrc]

Munstead and Hidcote are both good for edging. They like poor, free draining soil and sunshine.

[pansy potter]

Cheers grawrc.

[goodlife]

I've sent you PM about lavender... ;) ;)

[grawrc]

Funny really you asking this now... I've had lavender hedge edging in my front garden for close on 20 years - not the same plants but regularly replaced cuttings of same to prevent it getting too woody.


Anyway I am redoing my front garden and decided to do away with the lavender. Dug it all up last weekend!! Some went to new homes with friends, some to the compost heap. There was nothing wrong with it really but I felt I - and the garden - needed a change.

[Flighty]

How about the white dwarf variety Nana Alba ?

This is a good lavender website  http://www.downderry-nursery.co.uk/  as is the RHA one  http://apps.rhs.org.uk/advicesearch/Profile.aspx?pid=127