Preparing lavender for winter in the suburbs: how to cover and growing rules

Lavender is a thermophilic plant. Despite this, the inhabitants of Central Russia love a flowering fragrant plant. Planted along the paths, decorate flower beds, flower beds. Particular attention in the Moscow region is paid to the preparation of lavender for winter. The opinion of local gardeners about pruning in the fall was divided. Based on experience, some cut the lavender, others leave the bush uncut for the winter.

Suitable lavender varieties for this region

Lavender has up to 45 species. Only a few varieties are cultivated. Winter-hardy varieties of lavender are suitable for the Moscow region: Elegance, Lilac fog, Angustifolia.

Autumn pruning

Autumn pruning is an important and crucial moment. The procedure helps to preserve the decorativeness of the bush, prepares the plant for wintering. Lavender has a taproot that goes deep into the soil. Therefore, many varieties endure frost. Spring temperature drops are terrible for the plant. The snow thaws and freezes again, creating a dense ice crust. Oxygen access is limited, bushes die.

Form bushes in the second year of life.

Work algorithm:

1. Sharp garden shears or pruners are treated with alcohol. This is important, otherwise the instrument will infect.
2. They inspect the bush and, first of all, free it from diseased, dry, broken branches.
3. Lavender stems lignified at the bottom, green at the top. Pruning is carried out 3 centimeters above the lignified part. Completely lignified shoots do not touch.
4. The procedure is carried out after repeated flowering. If the plant has not had time to bloom, young shoots are not pruned.
5. Second case: belated pruning before the onset of cold weather. Plants may not have time to prepare for winter. Therefore, the shoots do not touch until spring. They are tied, bent to the ground, covered with spruce branches.

In the Moscow region, the onset of autumn cold weather may be delayed or come unexpectedly. All actions are associated with climatic conditions in a given season.

Time and way

During the growing season, lavender needs pruning.

Spring

In early spring, the shelter is removed from the lavender. Sanitary pruning. Remove frozen, rotten, dried shoots. If in the fall, for some reason, the formation of the bush was not carried out, this is corrected in the spring, according to the same principle as in the fall.

Summer

The first flowering ends in mid-August. To improve decorativeness, to stimulate the growth of new shoots, wilted inflorescences with a couple of leaves are removed.

Autumn

In early October, the second flowering ends. Gardeners immediately start preparing for wintering so that the plant has time to adapt before the onset of cold weather.

Rejuvenating pruning of old specimens is also carried out in the autumn. In the first year, the outer contour of the bushes is cut off, the central shoots are left. A year later, the outer branches are left, the central branches are removed 10-15 centimeters from the base.

Do I need to feed the plant after this?

In order for the plant to overwinter well, pruning, top dressing, and shelter are carried out in the fall. The bush is watered abundantly with water. As soon as the water is absorbed into the soil, the earth is loosened.

For top dressing, they buy mineral complex fertilizers in a flower shop. Add 2 tablespoons of the drug to a bucket of water. The solution is poured around the perimeter of the bush.

How to cover lavender for the winter in the suburbs

The trunk circle is mulched with peat, straw. Fallen leaves should not be used, as they provoke rotting processes. The ground part is covered with spruce branches and tied with a rope so that gusts of wind do not blow away the spruce branches.

Particular attention is paid to young plants that have not formed long roots. Shelter with spruce branches and mulching for them is a prerequisite for wintering.

Lavender planted in containers for the winter is not left outside. Plants are transferred to unheated premises.

Typical care mistakes

In the process of growing lavender, there are typical mistakes:

1. They cut the shoots at the root, considering that this is a herbaceous plant, and the methods are the same. Only green shoots are shortened.
2. Pour lavender. Due to excessive moisture, the root rots, the bush dies.
3. Choose an airtight cover material such as polyethylene. The ground part swells, leading to fungal infections.
4. Inexperienced gardeners, not waiting for the growth of lavender, pull it out. This is a type of plant with a late awakening. Getting rid of bushes ahead of time is not worth it.
5. Wrong ground. The flower loves breathable soil with an acidic reaction.

If the bush is not cut in the fall, then it is tied up. Snow will not be able to get into the central part of the flowers and thereby harm by freezing. A plant in a bunch will keep warm better.

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