Breeding Secrets Of Lavender Bushes

2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38

Lavender is an incredibly spectacular and fragrant plant, and that is why so many summer residents are very happy to plant this beauty in their plots. But sometimes you want to have even more lavender on the site, but it's not a secret for anyone that the transplantation of adult lavender bushes is extremely unimportant and very painful. So in order to get luxurious dense lavender thickets, sometimes you have to work hard! However, in reality, everything is not so difficult as it might seem at first glance

The easiest way to reproduce

If you look under the lavender bushes already growing on the site, you can see a great many young sprouts that have appeared through self-seeding. They are carefully dug out so as not to damage the mother bushes at the same time, after which they are planted in the right corners of the garden or vegetable garden. As a rule, such sprouts take root very well, but, unfortunately, this does not always happen!

Propagation by cuttings

Extremely simple and fast, but very effective way! To carry out cuttings, you will need young first-year shoots devoid of peduncles, the length of which is about seven centimeters. In this case, the lower parts of the cuttings should be lignified, that is, painted in brown tones, and the rest with young shoots should be green.

The bottom cuts on the cuttings are always made as close to the bud as possible, and they must certainly be oblique. Also, from below, you will need to remove all the leaves to a height of about three or four centimeters, in addition, the cuttings should be treated with special growth rooters. And only after that they are planted in moist soil with the addition of sand, while pressing down well. Next, the pots are covered with bags and transferred to a cool place, and after a month, the bags can be removed and the plants can be rearranged on the sunny side.

Reproduction by layering

In the summer season, when the plants begin to release new young sprouts, one of them is bent to the ground, after which it is carefully covered with earth and well watered. And so that the sprouts do not look out of the ground and are always located at the level of the soil, it is best to lay them in pre-prepared small grooves. Also, in order for each sprout to give new young shoots, it is very important to try to maintain good humidity throughout the summer period. And next spring, all freshly appeared sprouts can be safely separated from the mother bushes and planted separately!

Propagation using seeds

Propagating beautiful lavender by seed is the longest and most difficult method. At the same time, the seeds can be either bought or collected from the bushes you like! And all seeds are subject to stratification without fail - it is this most important stage that has a direct and immediate impact on their germination!

There are two ways to stratify seeds. In the first case, the seeds are sown in the ground at the end of autumn, and these plantings are necessarily well covered with non-woven material or a layer of foliage. And in the spring, young sprouts will hatch from the ground by themselves! And in the second case, the seeds are placed for two to three months in a refrigerator or in a cold basement, while it is recommended to sprinkle them with peat if possible - it perfectly retains moisture. Then the seeds prepared in this way are planted in the ground, slightly sprinkling them with earth and covering them with glass or film. And when tiny sprouts appear, the film is removed, and the plants are transferred to the light. In addition, as soon as five to six pairs of leaves are formed on them, the tops of the lavender are pinched - this is necessary for the proper formation of the bushes. With the onset of May, these sprouts can be safely planted in the ground, while it is important to take into account that lavender will bloom only after a year, since in the first year all the forces of the plant will go to building up the root system and green mass. Also, in the first two winters, the plants must be covered so that they do not freeze, in the future, adult bushes will no longer need shelter.

If everything is done correctly, the efforts made will certainly pay off, and the beautiful lavender will delight its lucky owners for a long time with magnificent flowering and a wonderful aroma!