Lavender is an ornamental perennial medicinal plant with a sophisticated summer aroma. Due to its graceful shape and bright dark blue inflorescences, it is often used to ennoble curbs and alpine slides. At the same time, planting and caring for lavender require specific knowledge and skills, without which it will be difficult for the flower to please the owners with lush flowering.
Lavender belongs to the family Lamiaceae. The average height of an evergreen shrub ranges within half a meter. A flower can be either annual or perennial. It has a straight, with slightly curved edges, felt stalk. At one end there are narrowish light gray or bluish-purple flowers, slightly resembling spikelets.
Lavender: growing and care
Common varieties
In total, about 20 types of lavender are read. The most popular of them:
- English narrow-leaved. Great for cultivation in the Russian climate. The flower is able to tolerate significant temperature fluctuations. The plant normally withstands 25 degrees of frost. The height of the bushes ranges from 15-60 cm. Refers to medicinal plants. Varieties included in this species: Alba, Centiva Silver, Munstead, Rosea, Dolphin-like, Hidcote, Centiva Blue.
Common Lavender Varieties
- French broadleaf. This species is very difficult to tolerate wintering; therefore, it is not recommended for cultivation in the conditions of the Midland. The most acceptable option is the cultivation of a flower in a pot. With the onset of the cold period, the pot should be brought into the house. This type of lavender is grown at a temperature not lower than −10 ° C. Varieties included in this species: Helmsdale, Tiara, Rocky Road, Regal Splendour, Willow Vale.
- Toothed. This species is not able to tolerate low temperatures, so it should be grown in warm climatic conditions or indoors (in the country or at home). It is considered an exclusively decorative look. The most popular varieties are Royal Crown (purple), Pedundulata (pink) and Regal Splendour (dark purple).
Briefly about the history of emergence as a garden plant
The word "lavender" itself has Latin roots. A part of the name "lava" in translation means "wash". In ancient times, lavender was a revered plant, used for washing and washing, as well as a component of a sedative. Today, the flower is actively used in cooking, oil production and landscape design.
Lavender is a flower that is quite demanding, but with proper care it will be able to please the owners with lush flowering.
Lighting: shade-loving or photophilous
Lavender is a very photophilous plant. However, even in partial shade, for example, under fruit trees in the garden, the flower can also develop normally.
Note! With a lack of lighting, the plant may not have enough strength for plentiful flowering.
Watering and humidity
Watering should be done in the morning or in the evening. The best option is boiled or standing water for several days at room temperature. The plant does not like waterlogged soil, so you should not fill the flower. After 25-30 minutes after each watering, you should get rid of residual liquid from the pan, and also loosen the soil twice a week after the procedure. It is undesirable to use wooden sticks or pegs, the tool should be plastic.
Features of lavender care in the garden
Spraying and other preventive measures
Lavender normally tolerates dry air in a heated living space, however, to prevent pests, foliage needs to be sprayed from time to time. When a weed appears, it is immediately removed. For prevention, it is recommended to mulch (peat). Lavender also needs hilling, which should be done at least once every 6 months (in autumn and spring).
Priming
Lavender is not very demanding on the mineral composition of the substrate, however, moist and heavy soil does not exactly suit it. The best option is light sandstones or sandstones. If the soil was heavy, then it should be mixed in equal proportions with sand (river). It is also necessary to take care of the drainage layer, which includes expanded clay, broken brick and sand.
Important! The level of acidity of the soil should fluctuate between 6.5-8 pH. In case of non-compliance, ash or lime is added to it.
Fertilizer and fertilizing
The quality and quantity of dressings significantly affect how lavender grows and develops, so you should not ignore the flower fertilizer procedure. Feeding is recommended in the spring. The best option is to feed the plant with nitrogen fertilizers. To prepare the fertilizer, it is necessary to dilute urea (1 tablespoon) or sodium humate (2 tablespoons) in water (10 l). About 5 l of solution will be enough for one bush.
One pruning a year will be enough for the plant, which will allow the bush to grow, and woody shoots. Many years of experience suggests that this procedure should be carried out immediately after flowering - in the second half of July. The advantage of summer pruning is that lavender can quickly build up enough fresh, compact and beautiful green mass.
Since the plant blooms only in the summer, bushes are allowed to be cut in the spring, when frosts end. Recommended cropping rate - 2 times a year. The first procedure stimulates flowering, and the second ennobles the bush.
For curly spring pruning, it will be enough to shorten the tips of the shoots by a third, give the plant a semicircular shape. In summer, it will be necessary to remove the peduncles and 2-3 upper pairs of leaves.
Pruning lavender
Due to the long flowering period and bright fragrant flowers, lavender is often used to create landscape compositions. Many gardeners opt for this crop precisely because of the lush and continuous flowering.
Types of flowers
French lavender flowers can be purple, lilac, pink, burgundy, green or white. English has blue, purple, green, pinkish or white flowers on thin straight peduncles. For the dentate species, lilac or violet-pink flowers are more characteristic.
Flower shapes
Lavender flowers, usually small bisexual, are collected in interrupted spike-shaped inflorescences. Quite large oblong flowers can also be found, it all depends on the variety and growing conditions.
Lavender bloom
Flowering period
On average, the flowering period of lavender lasts about two months. The French look blooms from April (May) to July. At the same time, at the end of August, the plant blooms a second time. The flowering period of English lavender is July-August.
Changes in flowering care
Many gardeners are wondering how to care for lavender during the flowering period. In fact, care should be taken at this time in standard mode. In this case, pruning is not recommended, since in most cases it is done after flowering.
Important! As for feeding, at the initial stage it is recommended to use special fertilizers for the bushes - agricola-fantasy (or universal rossa) (2 tbsp.), Diluted in water (10 l). On one bush should be up to 4 liters of solution.
The most affordable and easiest way is propagation by cuttings. However, this option is not always suitable, so some gardeners resort to the germination of lavender from seeds.
Seed germination
Planting, growing and caring for lavender in the open ground is not an easy task, especially if you propagate the flower with seeds. To properly propagate lavender seeds, you must:
- In early March, place the seeds in the refrigerator (in the lower drawer).
- In May, get them out of the refrigerator and sow in open ground.
- Cover with lutrasil and monitor the level of soil moisture. It is necessary to regularly moisten the soil, make sure that it is not dry.
- Shelter can be removed after the shoots are sufficiently strong.
If the site on which the seeds are sown is located in a region with a warm climate, then sowing should be done in October at a depth of up to 0.5 cm. Severe frosts are dangerous for lavender, so it is desirable that the temperature at the planting site is not very low. When snow falls, the crops must be well covered. The first shoots can be expected in late spring - early summer.
How to grow lavender
Rooting cuttings
This is the fastest and easiest way to reproduce. To root the cuttings it is necessary:
- Cut annual shoots into parts of 8-10 cm length.
- The resulting cuttings are transplanted into a loose moistened substrate. Cut the lower part and deepen 2-3 cm into the ground.
- Place inverted glass jars on top.
- After the roots grow back, the cans are removed.
Note! Before planting lavender cuttings in the ground, it is recommended that they be treated with root growth stimulants by root.
In addition, there are others capable of propagating lavender:
- dividing the bush;
- reproduction by layering.
How to plant lavender in open ground? Transplanting lavender into the open ground is a responsible process. In adulthood, a large number of movements does not affect the plant in the best way. Therefore, the procedure must be performed with special care and only if the earthen room is sufficiently voluminous.
Outdoor Lavender Transplant
Transplanting young flowers is a little easier. When transplanting bushes grown from cuttings, seeds or layering, care must be taken in advance about the planting site. Neighboring specimens should be seated at a distance approximately equal to their height. This will allow the bushes to be as lush as possible.
Note! To create a slender border from plants, the specified parameter must be halved. In this case, the seedlings will be as monolithic as possible.
Sometimes, due to improper care, lavender can be exposed to diseases or become a prey of pests.
What are the problems with leaves
Lavender is a fairly drought-tolerant plant, so it can suffer from overflow. The main symptom is yellowing of leaves, shoots and rotting of roots. In addition, foliage can change its color and dry out due to illness.
Frequent diseases
Most often, the flower affects late blight, the symptoms of which are manifested in the form of browning, the death of part of the shoots and the appearance of rot at the base. In this case, the plant should be sprayed with Biosept 33 SL (0.1%), or Aliette 80 WP (0.2%), or water the flower with Previcur 607 SL (0.2%) or Previcur Energy 840 SL (0, 2%).
Important! If the tops of the stems turned brown and began to die, then probably the gray mold hit the lavender. To prevent this disease, flowers should be planted remotely from each other so that they have enough air.
Pests
Most often, lavender suffers from an attack:
- aphids;
- caterpillars
- pennies slobbering. The pest is not capable of causing serious damage, but as a result of the activity of the insect, the stems and leaves can change their usual form;
- chrysanthemum nematodes. The result of the activity of the nematode is small dark spots on the leaves, which lead to their partial drying.
Pests
In addition, it is worth making sure that there are no weeds near the flower. It is in loose soil that they are especially actively developing, inhibiting the cultivated plant.
Lavender has a bright appearance, lush flowering and an amazing exquisite aroma - a complete set of qualities that make flower lovers respect and honor this culture. And color compositions with the participation of lavender in the garden and kitchen garden make this flower an indispensable component in the images created by landscape designers.
