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necessity

Dying Lavender HELP

necessity
18 years ago

I got a big lavender bush the beginning of the spring. It was recently doing GREAT, beautiful flowers, amazing fragrance. We left for a short trip over 4th of July weekend, during which our neighbor watered for us, and when we came back about 1/4th of the plant was dark grey and shriveling up. I thought maybe a cat pee'd on it. We cut off the dead parts, figuring it would be fine. Well a few days later now more of the plant is dying.

I probably overwatered it, but don't know what to do to stop the death and help save this quickly dying plant.

If I were to take cuttings from it, how do I do that? I'm a beginner gardener (obvious by my killing of the lavender bush)and need all the help I can get.

Please help!!!

Thank you

Comments (13)

  • shortarse_hedgewitch
    18 years ago

    what kind of soil you on? is the bush in a pot or in the ground

    to take cuttings you probably don't need rooting powder but if you have it all the better. look for still healthy shoots, ones that are small and branching off the stems. take them firmly between you fingers, at where they meet the stem and pull them downso theres a bit of a "heel" on the stem. remove the bottom sets of leaves, pulling them off UPWARDS. if you have hormone rooting powder just dip the bottoms of the cuttings in, then push into soil, preferably otting compost and in pots. or alternatively out them into a glass of water on a windowsill.

    remember to remove any flowers or flowerbuds from cuttings as they drain resources that the cuttings need for developing roots.

    keep them well watered.

    and its hard to overwater lavender as far as i know.

    and to try and save the plant, remove all flowers and flower buds, when flowering most plants divert growth away from leaves and stems and into flowers. as you plant is ill then it doesn't need any unnecessary drain on its resources. and dry the lavender flowers yo remove. after all waste not want not

  • Vera_EWASH
    18 years ago

    In my yard Lavender is thriving in quick draining, poor alkaline soil. Annual percipitation 17-20" and no more from me...if your soil is holding to much water around the roots it may be overwatered easily.
    Take cuttings from non-flowering shoots, about a 4" long...remove bottom leaves and pot up in straight perlite (kept moist by bottom watering), burying about 1 1/2 to 2" of the bare stem up to the remaining sets if leaves. Set in area with shade from afternoon sun or better yet in dappled light or indoors in bright spot but not direct light. Once roots form to about 1" in length re-pot to good draining potting mix. Pots need not be bigger than 3-4" to prevent overwatering.... gradually expose to stronger light. I have converted to starting cuttings in perlite to avoid stem rot. Learned this tip from one of my greenhosue instructors :)

    Good luck!

    Vera

  • necessity
    Original Author
    18 years ago

    It's in the ground right now along with the rest of my annuals and perennials. I was thinking of digging it up and putting it in a container to assure it doesn't get overwatered. My husband doesn't remember to not water it and it's too much to tell the neighbor when we're away.

    I've read that getting successful roots from cuttings on lavender is difficult. True?

  • granite
    18 years ago

    Nope, easy to root lavender. Take the cuttings with green growth at the top and a woody bottom, remove the lowest leaves and leave a small amount of greenery at the top, push the stem down into loosened soil...don't make a hole and then form the dirt around the stem.

    I have about a 30% take rate with taking a cutting and sticking it directly in the ground outside, as long as the ground is evenly moist (not dry, not a bog). Try adding gravel at your lavender if you want it to remain where it is in your border. It likes the water, it just wants plenty of drainage.

    Here is a link that might be useful: my gardens

  • Heathen1
    18 years ago

    yeah, I think it's an over watering problem... it's 40ºc/105ºF here and I water my lavender every 3-4 days.

  • necessity
    Original Author
    18 years ago

    Thank you for all your suggestions and help. Hopefully I can make this work

  • Underway
    18 years ago

    Lavender is easy to overwater in my area. I have good drainage but rich clay soil...lose one every so often to overwatering :(.

  • klriess
    17 years ago

    I bought a blooming lavender plant (1st time) before the frost was over. It remained fine and then I transplanted into a little bit larger container. Now it's grey! I replanted in Miracle Grow and water every other day! (Too much water?) Help!!

  • cclutter
    16 years ago

    Overwatering (wet roots) and humidity are the two enemies of lavender... try this site for some good info on transplanting and overall care for lavender:
    www.lavenderenchantment.com

    Here is a link that might be useful: Lavender Site

  • jkobetz
    13 years ago

    Excuse me, they are easy to overwater or they are not, which is it? I moved to a new house with clay soil unfortunately. The landscaper did a great job but some plants had issues with the clay. My lavenders are all well but one this spring didn't sprout evenly all around. It has a dead area on one side. I trimmed it off but I know the results will be that it will eventually secumb and die entirely. Why I do not know. Is it contagious? Is it water?

    Mine also because of the finches, are reproducing on their own. I thought it was little weeds and lo and behold it was small tiny new plants. What a treat. I hadn't had much luck with cuttings but I admit I didn't perservere.

    So can anyone tell me why a plant will have dead sections on an otherwise healty plant that simply gets more and more dead sections until I yank it out? All my plants are on drip irrigation as I live in California and water is an issue here. All my other lavenders are fine and I have about twenty or thirty. All with the same water and sun.

    Thanks for any advise. I am an avid gardner, not new to it.

  • Shelby Selenium
    8 years ago

    I cant figure this out either. My lavender looked full and bushy when I bought it, but its appearance is getting sadder and sadder every day. Its very hot, very dry, and very windy where I live. I do NOT have clay soil! I read to not water it very often....but perhaps that is wrong for the conditions we are in. So confused.


  • Pyewacket
    8 years ago
    last modified: 8 years ago

    I live in a desert, and I STILL managed to overwater some lavender last year.

    Granted, it was doing poorly to start with - it had been unwatered for months while this place was empty before we moved in. But still ... perhaps I am just extra talented, but overwatering lavender was super easy for me, LOL!

    I suspect that you might fare better with a smaller plant. I put in a NEW lavender late last summer when it became pretty obvious that the one we already had was most likely a lost cause. All last year it looked sad and draggly. It looked frost-bitten and burnt all winter. Then suddenly - it seemed to just burst out of the ground.

    Probably it was more gradual than that, but it SEEMED like it just suddenly appeared overnight, LOL! This year it is nice and bushy and crawling with blossoms.

    Large plants often do not transplant as well as smaller (younger) plants, especially in challenging environments - windy, hot, and dry describes my situation pretty well. Larger plants need a well-established root system to survive challenging conditions. Smaller plants are not as pretty - but they are better suited to "growing in" to their environments.

  • jenniowens983
    8 years ago

    CAN ANYBODY HELP ME?

    I have two lavender plants, bought and planted at the same time only a few feet from each other. For most of the summer they both thrived, but suddenly one of them started dying and I can't figure out why... I water them maybe once a week, but I live in Georgia so we get summer storms every two or three days... If we get a lot of rain one week, I make sure to not water them.... I do have clay soil, so when I planted them I mixed the soil with a good amount of sand to help with the drainage issues... I don't think I have an over-watering problem, and the other bush is beautiful.... Is it a fungus? Are lavenders susceptible to that? What do I do??

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