Anyone with Lavender Experience

[vfem]

I made a whim purchase of 400 lavender seeds (munstead) I wanted them to line my driveway as I'm going for a cottage garden with ALL the trimmings. I think they will be very impressive as little hedges with a heavenly scent to welcome visitors. Now the issue is, I've never grown lavender... I saw a 3 gallon pot was between $10-$12 so I want to try this route.

What would be good soil conditions? Should I just directly sow them? I know they form hedge like bushes almost, but should I thin out the seeds as the come up or leave them be. Is 400 seeds too much or too little to line 24 ft? Also, how many seasons do you think they will need before they bloom and get close to the 2ft height?

Sorry for all the questions.

Thanks!

Edited repeatedly for spelling mistakes....so I give up!

 

[patandchickens]

Personally I'd start them in flats or cell paks or whatnot, just because it is so much easier to ensure they all get treated right. Direct-sown, there is a fair chance of losing them all.

Lavender wants well-drained sandy or gravelly soil (but with some organic matter in it, not straight sand)... not clay, not humusy loam. I wouldn't put 'em closer than about 12" spacing, at the very closest... maybe 9" if you don't mind them being rather stunted and IF they have plenty of good unimpeded competition-free root run on both sides.

At 12" spacing, you would need 25 plants for a 24' hedge, or 50 to do both sides of the driveway. I'd start at least double that number, if space permitted, so's to have a good chance of a sufficient number of robust good-looking transplants. I do not believe lavender generally blooms much the first year; by the third year it should be fairly well filled in and blooming decently, assuming it likes the location.

For any kind of hedge, it's smart to keep extra plants growing in some nursery bed elsewhere for the first year or two, to replace any that bite the big one in situ (otherwise, you just have to live with an uneven gappy hedge for a long time...)

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[vfem]

Thanks Pat!

I think planting them along the gravel driveway may be very well for them... and I won't purchase loam to create the beds for them then. HEre top soil is actually a 'sandy' dirt with organic matter in it, we have to buy loem for most plant beds.

Anything else you want to share from experience is welcome. I think it looks lovely and I really want this to work out well.

 

[SewingDiva]

I wanted them to line my driveway as I'm going for a cottage garden with ALL the trimmings. I think they will be very impressive as little hedges with a heavenly scent to welcome visitors.

This sounds absolutely heavenly. Post photos!

Phyllis

 

[Greenthumb18]

i know that it takes 2 years for seed sown lavender to first bloom. I bought my first lavender plant last spring, to save 2 years.

 

[vfem]

Well I know I wasn't going to get instant gratification! Starting everything from seed, and knowing all the time I need is my perfect excuse to spend my spring, summer and fall days outside with my daughter and experiencing the fruit of our labors. I know she will be so thrilled to get all in the mud and help mommy as well. Besides... I'm hoping to drop more weight out working next year, I gained it all back over the holidays!!! LOL

 

[allabout]

I'm trying to work my butt off too! As far as lavender...I never have done well with lavender from seed. Wish I could give you more advise. But I do own one solitary little plant. I purchased from a small starter size container...I guess I've had it about 3 years. For me it is a neglected little plant, slow growing, but every year it has more blooms. I've never had any seeds to germinate around my plant. But I love having the lavender to dry and sometimes just pinch off a bit to smell, and its a nice little evergreen.

Please let me know how well you do with the seeds. I would consider trying again with someone's encouragement and more knowledge.

 

[vfem]

My husband is going to dig up along the driveway to even it out there and put down railroad ties. When I showed him the pictures of the mature plant, he says it would be prefect and went right on going through his ideas on how best to introduce them. Strangely he's been very involved and excited about all this though he said originally I was on my own, it wasn't his thing!?

 

[allabout]

You might as well be ready- if a spouse starts acting "involved and excited" after telling you "you're own your own" then they are wanting to purchase something....and it's big or wanting some time off to do their hobby. We play that game too!

 

[SewingDiva]

So here's a thought - now mind you I've never done this - but I wonder if it makes sense to start levender seeds, and then transplant them to a nursery bed for a season before you put them in their permanent location.

My experience with perenials is that they can be kind of fragile until they become established, and when I've planted really small ones as seedlings they seem to have a high mortality rate.

Phyllis