LAVENDER HEDGES

Dominion, Volume 29, Issue 255, 24 July 1936, Page 18

LAVENDER HEDGES

Can be Planted Now The next few weeks are an excellent time to plant a lavender hedge. The plant is popular in the garden on account of the spikes of highly-scented flowers obtainable during summer. It makes a neat, compact hedge suitable for edging the entrance to a drive, or for dividing th e kitchen garden. Cuttings made from shoots of an established plant may be inserted now, and will root readily if placed in a Shallow trench, at the bottom of which is placed an inch of silver sand. Such cuttings make excellent plants by the following autumn, when they can be planted 12 inches apart to form a hedge. To form a hedge now, rooted plants should be purchased from a nursery; these may be obtained at ,small cost. They will give an abundance of flowers for at least five years, after which a new hedge should be planted. If good plants are used, a number of blooms will be produced in the first season of planting. Lavender appreciates good cultivation; and as the only time when manure can be placed well below the roots is at planting time, it pays to dig over the site two spits deep, working in a liberal supply of well-rotted manure in the lower spit, and lime rubble, or slaked lime at the rate of a' 6-inch potful to each yard run of ground. Put the plants 2 feet apart in the row, spreading out the roots, and inserting them at the same depth as that to which they were grown in the nursery. This can be seen by the soil-mark round the stems of the plants. Tread the soil firm, and loose:, the top few inches by running a Dutch hoe over the surface. After the flowers have been gathered, the young bushes may be trimmed lightly with shears to encourage a bushy habit, and to keep them shapely and 'compact. This light pruning Should be carried out every year, cutting the hedge closer as it gets older and causes innumerable shoots to break on the older wood, which ensures an abundance of bloom. Where there are worn-out lavender bushes and it is desired to raise new, healthy specimens, cuttings of straight shoots measuring 12 inches in length, taken from growths made the previous season, may be cut or torn from the bush and dibbled into a sunny part of the garden, or la'd in trenches. The cuttings should be Inserted threequarters of their length in the ground with a little silver sand at their base, making the soil firm after planting by treading. If the cuttings are 'nserted 0 inches apart in rows 12 inches apart, the cuttings may remain in the bed for two seasons, after which they will be strong plants for planting into their flowering position?