A moment of brilliancy hit upon me a couple of days ago.
I've been pruning my Munstead lavender quite a bit as of late, noting its sad misshapen Quasimodo-esque appearance, trying to free it up so that the inner new growth will look fantastic rather than blob-tastic. (BTW, if anyone can direct me to a miniature Notre Dame Cathedral that is weather hardy, that would be EXCELLENT to place next to my lavender).
After some massive pruning, I saved some of the small pruned bits to soak in vinegar for a hair rinse and then looked at the massive amount of leftover cuttings.
I can't bear to throw anything away if it can be propagated ('cuz that's just what I do) so I wondered if they might root up easily and after a couple of weeks and some new growth coming from the pot of cuttings, that answer would be a very easy YES.
Awesome. But what to do with all this lavender other than gifts?! This is the epiphany... as I've been trying to go a little prettier in my garden and attract pollinators, I will outline my somewhat unattractive wood raised beds with the lavender and make mini-lavender hedges!
Ta da!
As with many things I've learned in life, and in my home, when something doesn't look good, cover/hide it until it does.
As it turns out, research on Google proved this to not be an entirely unique idea, but rather than just edging, I plan to keep it neatly trimmed all the time. Besides, if I don't, I won't be able to reach into my beds with my short little arms anyways. (Flashback to 3 years ago: Me to my husband building the beds, "Those look a little wide... I can't reach really well into the center..." fuzzy past blurble something response from husband that probably equates to an "oh well!" or "Grow longer arms!" :P)
As it turns out too, the lavender I have: Munstead and a random clearance Spanish lavender I picked up on the cheap at Lowe's/Home Depot is perfect for edging because it's naturally lower growing. Talk about weird luck eh?
I'll probably start out in the corners of the raised beds and maybe a little in the center of the sides, ignoring the far back facing north side because of the amount of shade and potentially ignoring too the skinny center path between the beds just so I can be sure I have plenty of walking room.
So excited now about this project (until I have to maintain it of course...)! I hope by the end of fall it will look great!
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2 comments:
the next time that you trim up your lavender you may consider making little sachets to hang in closets, put in drawers, or hang under like the kitchen or bathroom cabinet.
I would ask for a cutting but dave specifically asked for no lavender.. guess he can't stand the smell...
Thanks for the tip! I might do that as gifts as I'm not really into sachets much and David isn't too fond of them/lavender either. Mostly it's nice to make a vinegar hair rinse from for me in hopes that it keeps the mosquitoes and stuff away.
You could always have a plant! It could just stay far far away from Dave's nose!
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