Lavender smell

Greyduster

My lovely late DH - always an optimist, never much of a gardener - won a packet of lavender seeds and a bag of compost at a church fete. I laughed at him when he said he was going to grow them. I laughed on the other side of my face when he managed to raise thirteen strong plants, which are still growing in the form of a small hedge in front of his plum tree! I’ll be giving those a crop tomorrow.

Ahh. Good for him

JenniRen

MT62

Our rosemary takes off and grows all over the path if it's not hacked back!

Yes, Hidcote is a neat upright lavender whereas some other varieties sprawl.

Ahh! Quite a few to choose from.
Will do my home work. Thanks

My lovely late DH - always an optimist, never much of a gardener - won a packet of lavender seeds and a bag of compost at a church fete. I laughed at him when he said he was going to grow them. I laughed on the other side of my face when he managed to raise thirteen strong plants, which are still growing in the form of a small hedge in front of his plum tree! I’ll be giving those a crop tomorrow.

MT62

Our rosemary takes off and grows all over the path if it's not hacked back!

Yes, Hidcote is a neat upright lavender whereas some other varieties sprawl.

Cressy

Lavender should be cut back now once flowers have ‘gone over’. Cut back leaving a small amount of green growth. Lavender only grows on new wood. You can put the cut lavender in bunches. I hang them around the house and they are fragrant for many months.
I the cuttings every year at this stage too.

Sorry, I see you and others have answered this already.

Previously we had someone to help who used a hedge cutter and just cut it straight across. This year the new person we have helping is a trained gardener and she cut it into neat mounds with new green growth showing.

Silvershadow

Sorry that was for MT62.

Ahh yes thanks. Just trying to reply on your previous post.. advert keeps getting in the way.
Yes that’s a good site to explore for ideas 🙏

MT62

Silvershadow

We are very lucky here in the south as the lavender likes the soil. We are growing different kinds of lavender, both the traditional type and the French. Quite often our local garden centres sell lavender plants off when the blooms have faded. I just buy them, trim off the dead stalks, pop them in the ground ready for next year. We’ve built up quite a few that way.

I love the smell of lavender and find it very soothing. I buy Yardleys lavender eau de toilette which I find useful in this heat.

How do you stop lavender becoming woody? Do you trim it back?

Good question.
Ours is very woody and we wondered whether or not to remove it and replant with new. It has been pruned very well, though, by the person who helps us in the garden occasionally.

You mustn't prune it right back beyond any leaves.

Silvershadow

For a full hedge probably English. They tend to be a bigger lavender bush but ask at your garden centre as some are dwarf plants. This year we managed to buy plants with purple and white flowers combined but they are not big bushes. I think the English ones are called Hidcote. Have a look on the RHS website for guidance.

👍🏻 don’t want them too high.
It’s just to hide a strip of grass that never grows (due to concrete underneath) next to our driveway.
I believe rosemary is a good one to grow in conditions like that & I love the smell of rosemary too.

I've just dried some lavender from the garden and made lavender bags which are now in drawers. Another lot is drying to fill more. I am an old lady, don't mind smelling of lavender, it's better than some alternatives.

The bees have thoroughly enjoyed it, now it's been chopped back.

I keep lavender bags in the wardrobe especially where woollens are to deter moths. Also small mesh bags filled with lavender in my drawers!

MissAdventure - I'm past caring. My drawers are certainly capacious enough!

Aveline

I put lavender bags or lavender soap in my nightie and pants drawers. Just a lovely refreshing smell.

I was loathe to say I keep lavender bags in my drawers 🤭

I love lavender, honeysuckle, jasmine, and roses. Always have. But not any products made with their scent. I just love to catch that lovely scent on a breeze.

MT62

I love the smell of it in the garden.
Not in beauty products though.

I agree, great in a garden but I hate the scent in any cosmetic or beauty products, isn’t it strange?🤔

Lavender should be cut back now once flowers have ‘gone over’. Cut back leaving a small amount of green growth. Lavender only grows on new wood. You can put the cut lavender in bunches. I hang them around the house and they are fragrant for many months.
I the cuttings every year at this stage too.

Sorry that was for MT62.

I’ve just looked on the RHS website for you. There is a lot of info about different sizes, how to care for it etc. best for hedging that type of thing.
Good luck!

My son is autistic, non verbal, with severe learning difficulties. We use lavender oil to help keep him calm when he is stressed and self harming. It really helps him.

Silvershadow

Sorry, forgot to add. I think it does keep moths at bay. When we visit NT properties they always have huge bowls of dried lavender everywhere. I asked once and was told it keeps insects at bay.

I have a natural lavender pillow spray but I do spray around the edges of the carpet to stop those pesky carpet beetles. Seems to work as I haven’t seen any for a long time.

I put lavender bags or lavender soap in my nightie and pants drawers. Just a lovely refreshing smell.

For a full hedge probably English. They tend to be a bigger lavender bush but ask at your garden centre as some are dwarf plants. This year we managed to buy plants with purple and white flowers combined but they are not big bushes. I think the English ones are called Hidcote. Have a look on the RHS website for guidance.

Hedge 🤦‍♀️

Silvershadow

I take the tops off MT62 after flowering. They say don’t cut into the old wood or it kills it. So far, ours are ok.

Oh right, I didn’t know you had to dead head them.
I want to grow a lavender edge at the side of the drive way.
Which is best french, English?

Sorry, forgot to add. I think it does keep moths at bay. When we visit NT properties they always have huge bowls of dried lavender everywhere. I asked once and was told it keeps insects at bay.

I take the tops off MT62 after flowering. They say don’t cut into the old wood or it kills it. So far, ours are ok.