What have I done to my lavenders?

[LavenderFailure]

Hi,

I put these in a shallow raised bed a couple of years ago. The first season they were spectacular. Grew big and amazing flowers. We pruned them lightly in autumn, but this season they have gone very woody and just look a bit crap!

What should I do now? Have I ruined them? I don't over water or anything. In fact until now I haven't needed to do much at all!

Would appreciate any advice.

Thanks

I find that the key is to prune heavily, never lightly.

I cut my lavenders down by half in September, then (as mine are English lavender) I cut them down again late April/early May just above the lowest freshest green growth.

Though I don’t know if I would cut Stoechas (your lavender) again in late April/early May as Stoechas doesn’t tend to manage cold as well as English.

Those are really, really overgrown.
If they were mine, I would cut about half of the stems now right down to just above the lowest fresh green leaf so you’ll still have half the flowers left.

When the cut areas regrow and bloom I’d then cut the remaining stems down to just above the lowest fresh green leaf.

Do NOT cut into the wood below the leaves as it won’t usually regrow.

You will hopefully 🤞🏻find that slowly they sprout new leaves lower and lower down if you prune as above, though I think it’s meant to take three years to completely repair.

Once a lavender is that leggy it's never really going to look great IME, so I would either take cuttings to propagate for next year or replace now.

I've replaced some of mine this year, because they had got so leggy, but they were quite elderly plants. I cut back every autumn, but that's all the maintenance they get.

I pruned my daughter's severely to just above a green bud last autumn and the damn things turned into dead wood almost overnight with only little patches of green. Not a good look! We've pulled up and replaced with delphiniums and lupins for a change in height.

Hmm... I think if I cut them now they'll look even worse. Tempted to get rid and start again with something.

I love delphiniums but the bed boarders our patio and gets hit by footballs a lot so ideal need something low and tough.

Any suggestions what might work? Love a bit of colour & low maintenance!

Thank you everyone for your comments

I cut my lavender back hard in autumn - down to about two or three inches, max.

Hebes survive footballs and come in a variety of sizes, foliage and flower type.

What about nepeta (catmint)?

I have similar.... bought some lovely lavender last year, it was very happy, came back to life early spring and is now woody and horrible.

Should I prune now just above green (as pp suggested above), and then see what happens between now and the autumn?

Frankly, I think OP's pics look better than mine....

HardAsSnails, how easy is it to propagate? I am very much an amateur and am dealing with a London balcony only....

To propagate, take a non flowering stem, about 5 cms. Cut it just below the first pair of leaves. Remove all the other leaves, except the ones at the very top.
You can either put it in a small jar of water and wait for the roots or more usual. Dip it in rooting powder and plant in a very gritty pot of compost.
Loads of YouTube videos will show you how. Do several cuttings, as they don’t always take.

I manage to kill all of my stoechas (well my neighbours ran over 4) so to me they look brill

I don't think this kind of lavender (the ones with ears) are as hardy or long lived. Am impressed you kept them as long as you did.

All my lavender cuttings have died

Get rid, start again. Lavender farm suggests chopping back on August 10th. I didnt believe this (usually Oct chopped mine) but the last two years I’ve done this they have been amazing the following year.

Never cut into the dead bits at the bottom, they won’t regrow.

We cut ours back till almost ground level, right into the wood. It grew back beautifully. They say never to cut into the wood but we wanted to give it a good try before just binning them and buying new.