Is all my lavender dead?

[Localher0]

All my French lavender looks like this....
No sign of life inside the plants and the stems are very woody. I can break a twig and inside it's not green but doesn't break that easily.
Do I need to bin it all??

I've just had to dig up all of my dead French lavender as well. The English looked touch and go as well but is now sprouting a few green leaves (looks leggy and scruffy though!). Seems the French just isn't cut out for the winter we had this time round!

This was one of my English lavenders last week - I find them much easier than the French varieties. One of my rosemary plants is looking decidedly unhappy with the winter we've had though, and I think I've lost my salvias

It also looks like you've put a bark mulch down. If this comes from plantation grown softwood they can be very acidic, lavender prefers slight alkaline or neutral soil.

@SpikeDearheart I've been keeping a close eye on my salvias as they've been very slow to get going, and today there are tiny leaves sprouting at the base, a bit more sun and they'll be well away. Don't give up hope!

Ooh, thanks for that bit of hope @ShrikeAttack my perovskia have taken off and from memory my salvias started about the same time last year, but maybe I'll still be lucky

@purplebagladylovesgin

We had a very wet winter. I've lost a lot of my slightly more Mediterranean plants such as lavender and oragano. Apparently they don't like to be water logged. They like well draining soil and this winter finished them off.

Oh would that account for my thyme dying this winter too? It was doing so well last year, really increased in size, now dead as dead can be.

Re the OP's question, I would say that was dead, yes. Sadly, that happens all the time when I buy lavender, so I have stopped trying with it. What a shame. I bet it was lovely last year.

I've lost all but two lavenders (we had around thirty) - and both of those are in pots in the walled section of our garden which does have some shelter from the worst of the elements.

Those lost were mostly English - some in the ground, a few in pots/planters - with maybe five/six French....but we are in rather wet Wales (originally from Hampshire and used to drier conditions, lol!) so it was to be expected 🙄

Also lost a large rosemary bush - and that was also in the walled garden - plus all my salvias in the main garden appear to have snuffed it too.....

I'm keeping everything crossed that one or two of the salvias might be ok, but fear the worst.....

@Daftasabroom I had no idea about that. Thanks for telling me!! And yes I do think they've all gone. They did look lovely last summer though - in fact the whole bank did and now it looks sad as can be....
question is..... what to replace them with?? Any suggestions??

I’d be tempted to try English lavender. Maybe add some drainage....like grit.

This blog is handy, suggests scratching the stem to be sure a plant is dead and suggests catmint as alternative.

Link www.hedgesblog.co.uk/lavender-alternatives#.YH-u8y14WhA

I'm lucky with Lavender. SW near the sea and my garden is pretty much pure sand! Lavender loves it and goes mad! Poor soil, really sharp drainage. Can't grow much else though!

Thanks everyone. I've gone through all the checks suggested to see if they're still alive but no luck. They are dead as. I had no idea catnip was a real plant - I just thought it was something in sayings about cats . Much like I though Surbiton was a made up place until I bought a house there 🤣

What a shame @Localher0. French lavender is much less hardy than English varieties. I used to lose mine every winter. But my Lavendar hidcote seems fine. I live in the NW.

The message is always not to cut into old wood, but I always have, and the English lavender seems to love it. It always shoots up from the bottom.

French lavender I only keep in pots, and pull next to the house for the winter. It is already fully green and has new shoots. I wouldn't put French in the soil, and I'm in the warm South East.

I have a gardener friend coming round later to do an inspection and let me know which of my plants can be saved and which are a lost cause.

I replaced the lavender that was struggling in my clay front garden with Nepeta 'Purrsian Blue', it isn't a perfect lookalike but has a similar effect. It's a hardy perennial so it will die back over winter but can be cut back over the summer to repeat bloom.

Elsewhere, i have a lavender hedge (Hidcote) in poor soil against a sunny wall and that's been doing well in the four years since it was planted. I follow the pruning advice in this website: www.themiddlesizedgarden.co.uk/absolutely-best-way-prune-english-lavender-beautifully/

I'm on pretty much solid chalk, and lavender is usually pretty happy. Last year, I lost some bushes because of age (they were about 15 years old and quite woody.) I planted 6 replacements last year; 2 have not made it through winter.

Death of plants you want is part of gardening...

If u need to replace it Woolmans weee doing an offer. 40 x lavander Hidcote plugplants for free. Only pay £5.95 delivery. Just pot them up in some sandy\free draining soil and grow them on for a while. More hardy than french lavender for our wetter weather.

Were not weee

I gave up on French lavendar and just grow English lavendar now, much more successful.

I have also found a water monitor is useful, they really don't like wet soil.

It's lavender, isn't it?

I think I have both French and English lavender in my garden..?

Does anyone think these will come back? I can see they have green on them but the staljs look so brown and woody.

Lost all mine too, too wet and cold I think for them. Sad times.

3orange those are both English. The greener one looks like a younger plant though, so hasn't established the wood yet.

For those saying be ruthless about a hard cut, do you mean you cut back into the wood?

@3orangekissesfromkazan I would prune out any completely dead stalks. For the others with shooting green leaves, cut down but leaving a couple of inches with new growth on. That should be enough to get a decent plant for this season as they will grow and there will be space for new stalks too. Maybe apply some food for a boost. Then look up the recommended pruning regime to start after this season.