The Wisebird Bookery was our FIRST gift store that we introduced our product line to way back in 2009. They are a Mother/daughter/Coffee Shop/Book Store that has been around for ever. Jen and Margaret know just about everybody that steps into their shop. They not only know their name, but their regular drink of choice. Last fall Margaret (who loves lavender) wanted to plant some lavender out in front of the store.
This spring I was checking up on the cute hedge she planted and realized that 5 of the 8 plants had died.
You can see the nice green one with the dead one behind it.
Here is a closer look. If in May your plant still has not put out any green leaves, it is probably dead.
Lucky for us the previous landscapers were smart enough to plant some lavender a few yards down. And lucky for us they don't pay much attention to their landscaping. And lucky for us they planted an English variety.
Why does that make us lucky?
Well if they had weeded or hedged on a regular basis they would have taken away all of the spent lavender that were just about to seed. But because they didn't; the spent lavender went to seed.
AND because they didn't weed on a regular basis or clear the beds; those little seeds grew and grew.
Can you see?
There are 4 little lavender starts mixed in with the leaves. I am guessing the largest is about 2 years old and the others are 1 year or less.
I choose my specimens.
Pulled out the dead plants and prepped the soil.
Dug up the new hedge candidates.
See that the root ball is as big or bigger than the plant?
Also, do you see the large root coming out the right bottom?
This was it's main water line.
Set them in place.
Watered them in.
And....Volia. An updated hedge ready for spring.
This is now where I talk about
"HOW TO TRANSPLANT LAVENDER"
0. Water your lavender.
The morning of or while you are prepping the new location, give your lavender a good watering. This will help loosen up the soil around the roots, give it a drink before the move, reduce the stress to the plant and make the entire job just a little easier.
1. Prep your soil in the NEW spot.
Dig your hole 2x the size of the plant you are moving. Amend the soil. If you have clay, put compost. If you have sand put compost and top soil.
2. Dig up your lavender.
Here is the tricky part. DON’T STRESS YOUR LAVENDER. Lavender have very large root systems. If your plant is about “yea big", then the root ball is about the same ”yea big". The more dirt you can leave on the roots while moving, the less stress to the plant. Most lavender have a “succor root” it is a large root that is the main water supplier. You can see one in my pictures above.
3. Place your lavender in it's NEW spot.
Take note where the soil height was on the stem before you dug up your plant. You will want the soil height to be the same in the new location. With good dirt fill in around the roots, water it in and then top dress if necessary. Sometime the soil settles after watering. Pinch off a few of the leaf tips on your plant. This will stop it from thinking about blooming and tell it to think about growing more roots.
4. Keep a green eye on your lavender
Your plant will be a little sensitive in it's first few weeks. It will need a bit more water til the roots grab hold again. Notice the clouds in the picture of the Bookery. I choose to transplant on a day where I knew it wouldn't be to hot and where I knew it would rain for a few days after.
* Sometimes if you shock your plant it will not bloom as full or at all that year.
* Early spring and late fall are the best times to transplant. Avoid transplanting to late in the fall if you are near your first frost dates, wait til next spring. Then if you are transplanting in the spring, be sure to wait til AFTER your last anticipated frost date.
* If you are moving an established plant bigger than 2 years...good luck. I am sure there are people out there that have gone it with success. Can you imagine how big that root ball would have to be?
* You may find it odd (at least I did) that you can buy a large lavender plant in a little
tiny pot. Isn't the rule that the root ball has to be as big as the plant? And here is the answer: The difference between a wild seedling like the one I was dealing with and a 3 gallon potted plant is that when you slip the potted plant out of is container; all of it's roots are intact and undisturbed.
The wild seedling has had time to sprawl out its roots. The pot can be smaller than, "yea big" because it is containing and protecting the roots
. And the seedling needs a large root ball to capture all of it's roots.
HAPPY TransPLANTING !
