In the 4 days between the Killdeer hatching (May 27th) and buying the plants, (May 31st) I concentrated on weeding the central area of my large patch for lavender. I prioritized weeding first around the newest plants, babies planted last year, as weeds had grown up around them.
You can see on the left hand side, where I've cleared more space for the new plants. Further to the left you can see how the northernmost third I've yet to turn my attention too. A clearer visual below.
I tend to underestimate how much space I'm going to need for new plants. I ended up weeding the green you see in the lower left hand corner and found myself squishing a few plants in closer than I had planned. more like 18 inches apart rather than the full two feet.
So the last Sunday of May I trekked out to Oakland Nursery in Dublin with the plan to get roughly 30 plants; a combination of the hardy English varieties Munstead and Hidcote. They are hardy in zone 5 and even further North and being an English variety, can tolerate a good amount of moisture.
To Oakland!
Up until a few years ago places like Lowe's or Home Depot would carry a variety of specific lavender, but now they just carry the generic "lavender" label. My green thumb friend had told me that they were selling Dilly Dilly lavender this year, a lavandin (somewhat less hardy) that grows much larger and all the lavandins are showier plants with long stems.
All the plants on the stand were Dilly Dilly. They were out of Munstead and Hidcote. They did have another variety called Ellagance...but I don't like it. I don't think it's very fragrant and I don't like how stubby the blooms look. However it is hardy to zone 5...
Anyway, I checked several internet sites and they all said Dilly Dilly was hardy to zone 5. Recently I've learned that where I live is actually zone 6a...probably. Dilly Dilly, something I had planned on buying a few of had now turned into my only choice if I wanted a variety specific lavender this year. I bought 32 plants.
I have had beautiful lavandins in the past, but they can really only survive a mild winter and spring here, or a harsher one with a significant windbreak like straw bales, but using them is unsustainable in time, money and effort. Each one weighs about 100 pounds after soaking up water for months in the elements.
For more on beautiful lavandins, you can go here
and here
So after the trip to Oakland, it was a beautiful day to plant 32 lavender plants.
I use pea gravel for the bottoms of the holes, and some kelp fertilizer to get them started.
Because the entire area is graveled and covered in landscape fabric, when I plant, the first order of business is to clear the gravel away and cut the landscape fabric with an exacto knife or pair of garden scissors.
I did this 32 times. Well, about 27 times. I had some lavender that died, from the previous year's planting and popping those suckers out was easy. Below is a picture of a lavender that didn't make it, and I swapped out.
Then I called Dad, who comes over with a little auger that attaches to a drill. He even cut the bottom out of a plastic bucket so the clod heavy clay dirt doesn't fly everywhere.
By the time he left it was about 6:30 and I had been at this for 2.5 hours. And still had to plant 27 lavender plants. The humidity was low that day and I don't think it climbed out of the 70s, probably the nicest conditions I've ever planted in.
First I take a garden spade and enlarge the augured hole that you see above. then I add pea gravel and mix the kelp in with a little soil at the bottom.
Then...then I plant.
It was good I got these all in the ground because in about 10 to 14 days I would be cutting lavender.
By the time this was done, it was close to 8:30. I can't remember if I did a little weeding after this, I suspected I did, then I took care of the chickens and called it a night. I did my usual yoga routine in the morning before I went to bed to stretch out. Grateful for the cool weather, I wondered idly if the neighborhood fox would come by and wreck havoc as a fox did in 2015. Foxes make dens in loose soil, favoring field banks, quiet ditches, and often will have more than one den in an area. Our fox family in the neighborhood uses a local barn, and has at least one den at the edge of a small wood.
They like to dig, and the smell of fresh dirt catches their attention as a possible meal opportunity since the eat so many mice, voles and rabbits, etc...all diggers.
I checked on the lavender everyday for about a week, watering and seeing no sign of the fox. I thought I was out of the woods...
I'm going to wrap this post up as it is so long. If you enjoy the blog, I encourage you to sign up for it to be delivered right into your in box. I can't see your email if you sign up, or can't figure it out at least and if you are catching this blog through facebook updates, if you sign up, you won't be dependent on the FB algorithm reminding you there is a new post. In the upper right hand corner by the birds is a box where you can sign up for the newsletter.
Please enjoy these videos of barn swallows swooping and diving for an easy meal of bugs as I mow.
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