Preparing lavender for wintering in the Moscow region and how best to cover the plant
Lavender is a thermophilic plant. Despite this, the inhabitants of Central Russia love the flowering fragrant plant. Planted along the paths, decorate flower beds, flower beds. Special attention in the Moscow region is paid to preparing lavender for winter. Local gardeners are divided over pruning in the fall. Based on experience, some prune the lavender, others leave the bush uncut for the winter.
Suitable Lavender Varieties for the 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, Narrow-leaved.
Autumn pruning
Autumn pruning is an important and crucial moment. The procedure helps to preserve the decorative effect of the bush, prepares the plant for wintering. Lavender has a taproot that goes deep into the soil. Therefore, many varieties are resistant to frost. Spring temperature drops are terrible for the plant. The snow thaws and freezes again, creating a dense ice crust. Oxygen access is limited, the bushes die.
They form bushes in the second year of life.
Algorithm of work:
- Sharp garden shears or pruning shears are treated with alcohol. This is important, otherwise the instrument will infect.
- The bush is examined and, first of all, they are freed from sick, dry, broken branches.
- Lavender stems are lignified in the lower part, green at the top. Pruning is carried out 3 centimeters above the lignified part. Completely lignified shoots are not touched.
- The procedure is carried out after re-flowering. If the plant has not had time to bloom, young shoots are not cut off.
- Second case: late with pruning before the onset of cold weather. Plants may not have time to prepare for winter. Therefore, the shoots are not touched until spring. They are tied up, bent to the ground, covered with spruce branches.
In the Moscow region, the onset of autumn cold weather can be delayed or come unexpectedly. All actions are associated with climatic conditions in a particular season.
Time and way
During the growing season, lavender needs pruning.
Spring
In early spring, the shelter is removed from the lavender. Sanitary pruning is carried out. 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 pair of leaves are removed.
Fall
The second flowering ends in early October.Gardeners immediately start preparing for the winter, so that the plant has time to adapt before the onset of cold weather.
Anti-aging 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. After a year, the outer branches are left, the central branches are removed 10-15 centimeters from the base.
Do I need to feed the plant after that?
In order for the plant to winter well, pruning, feeding, shelter are carried out in the fall. The bush is watered abundantly with water. Once the water is absorbed into the soil, the soil is loosened.
For feeding, 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 shelter lavender for the winter in the Moscow region
The trunk circle is mulched with peat and straw. It is not worth using fallen leaves, as they provoke decay processes. They cover the ground part with a lapnik and tie it up with a rope so that the gusts of wind do not blow away the spruce branches.
Particular attention is paid to young plants that have not developed 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 rooms.
Typical care mistakes
In the process of growing lavender, there are typical mistakes:
- Shoots are trimmed at the root, considering that it is a herbaceous plant, and the methods are chosen the same. Only green shoots are pruned.
- Pour lavender. Due to excess moisture, the root rots, the bush dies.
- Choose an airtight shelter material such as polyethylene. The ground part undergoes heating, which leads to fungal infections.
- Inexperienced gardeners, without waiting for the growth of lavender, pull it out. This is a late awakening plant. It is not worth getting rid of the bushes ahead of time.
- Wrong ground. The flower loves breathable soil with an acidic reaction.
If the bush was not cut in the fall, then it is tied. Snow will not be able to get into the central part of the flowers and thereby harm it by freezing. The plant in the bunch will keep warm.
