Mulching lavender plants is tricky, as lavender prefers arid conditions and well-drained soil.
Suitable mulch for lavender includes:
- Small, crushed rock.
- Pea gravel.
- Nut shells.
- Pine needles.
- Oyster shells.
- Coarse sand.
What is a good mulch for lavender?
Mulching Lavender
A 1-2 inch thick layer of small crushed (angular) gravel is the best mulch for Lavandula. Other coarse-textured mulches such as pine needles and crushed nutshells are also a good match for mulching these plants. Avoid straw, bark, compost, and other water-retentive mulch materials.
Should you put mulch around lavender plants?
Mulching: Since lavender is drought tolerant, it shouldn’t need mulch to conserve soil moisture, other than extreme cases. If you do mulch, use small sized bark or gravel, and be sure to leave several inches clear around the plant crown, or your Lavender may rot.
Can you put wood chips around lavender?
Structure is more important to lavender growth than nutrient content, so if the soil is nice and light, you may not even need to add any fertilizer. After you’ve planted, you might consider adding a layer of mulch. Wood chips are best, as this will help add more structure to the soil.
Should I put gravel around lavender?
Soil and Drainage: Lavender does best in slightly alkaline soil and loves poor, rocky, well-draining ground. Amend heavy soil with sand or pea gravel to ensure drainage.
Is cedar mulch good for lavender?
Wood Smith produces some of the finest natural cedar wood chips for both indoor and outdoor Lavender plants that helps to keep moisture in!
How do you keep weeds out of lavender?
Mulch. Keeping the lavender warm and warding off weeds is helpful in growing good lavender. A simple solution to this is using a thin layer of sand as mulch. It not only chokes out weeds, but keeps the lavender roots warm and insulated.
What do I feed lavender?
Little feeding is required, although a sprinkling of potash around the base of plants will encourage more prolific flowering and improved flower colour. Don’t add bulky manure or high nitrogen feed as your lavenders in particular, will grow very sappy and flop open.
When should lavender be pruned?
Left to their own devices, lavender can become woody and ungainly, so to keep plants compact and attractive, it’s best to trim them annually in late summer, just after flowering has finished. Remove any spent flower stalks and about 2.5cm (1in) of leaf growth.
How deep should lavender be?
Lavender has a rooting depth of 18-24 inches. In general, apply 1 gallon of water per plant per week after transplanting, until plants are established. Mature/established plants need ½ gallon of water every 2 weeks until flower bud formation.
Should I fertilize lavender?
More than it needs fertilizer, lavender prefers at least six to seven hours of full sun and well-drained soil. Established lavender needs fertilization only twice a year: once in the spring and fall. Lavender is appropriate for container planting and the same fertilization rules apply for lavender grown in pots.
Should you put compost with lavender?
The best (and only) time for fertilizing lavender is in the springtime at the start of the growing season. The easiest and best thing to do is to put down an inch (2.5 cm.) of good compost around the plant. This should provide plenty of nutrients for the year to come.
Will lavender grow near pine trees?
Lavender isn’t fussy about soil pH; though it prefers neutral to alkaline soil, it can survive in acidic soil. Meanwhile, pine trees can survive in slightly alkaline soil, which is ideal for lavender. Either way, this compatibility makes lavender a viable option for planting under pine trees.
What happens if you don’t prune lavender?
Prune for healthier lavender plants
An annual pruning is an important step for long-lasting lavender (Lavandula spp. and hybrids) plants. Without it they grow a large, lanky, woody base that can split open — it looks bad and shortens the plant’s lifespan.
Should lavender be cut back in the fall?
The best time to prune your lavender is in the fall, at least 6 weeks before your first frost date. In our part of the country, that means we start pruning the fields as soon as we’re done with the essential oil distillation at the end of September, with the aim of finishing by mid-October.
How often should lavender be watered?
How to Care for Lavender. Water once or twice a week after planting until plants are established. Water mature plants every two to three weeks until buds form, then once or twice weekly until harvest. (Yellowing leaves are often a sign of overwatering.)
When should you not use cedar mulch?
Cedar mulch is a brilliant way to help your soil retain moisture. However, this can cause serious problems for your plants if their soil is already very moisture retentive. Poorly draining soil, boggy soil, or low lying areas where rainwater pools should not be mulched over with cedar mulch.
What are the disadvantages of cedar mulch?
However, there are some serious disadvantages and issues with it.
- Cedar mulch is expensive; this means that it may not be profitable for a vegetable garden.
- Cedar mulch deters pollinators; this makes it unsuitable for fruiting vegetables.
- Cedar mulch lasts a long time, most vegetable beds last months, if not weeks.
Is cedar mulch better than regular mulch?
So, is cedar mulch better than regular mulch? Cedar mulch has several advantages over regular mulch. Cedar mulch repels some types of bugs, including moths, ants, termites, and cockroaches. Cedar mulch also lasts longer because it takes more time to break down than pine and other types of wood.
How much space do you need between lavender plants?
Space lavender plants 12 to 18 inches apart in an area with plenty of sunlight and sandy, well-drained soil with a pH of 6.7 to 7.3. Give young plants an excellent start to the growing season by mixing in several inches of compost or other rich organic matter into your native soil.
How do you keep grass from growing in lavender?
It can knit itself through your lawn edging ideas and into your flower beds, swiftly taking over your planting schemes.
- 5 easy ways for killing grass in flower beds.
- Pull grass up by hand.
- Create a sun barrier.
- Lift plants.
- Use a flame gun.
- As a last resort try weedkiller.