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Goodbye Lavender!

Digging up 3/4 big lavenders. They've become woody, at least 6 years old, look awful now I've trimmed off the flowers and frankly I can't stand the smell of them! However, the bees loved them. What can I plant in its place that the bees will love,  looks nice most of the year, on a south facing site that gets windy?? Any suggestions would be most welcome.????

Posts

  • How about agastache? mine grows and flowers prolifically in a south facing and exposed area.  It's always got a variety of pollinators on it.  The variety is Blue Boa

  • Mark56Mark56 Posts: 1,653

    I agree with Agastache, they are my favourite. So many bees on my Blue Fortune & Black Adder this year but ensure good drainage. A particularly wet winter will rot them & they do struggle further up North.

  • raisingirlraisingirl Posts: 7,093

    or perovskia - seems to cope well with windy sites but does look like a dead stick in the depths of winter so needs a nice euonymus or some such alongside it

    Last edited: 23 August 2017 21:13:41

    Gardening on the edge of Exmoor, in Devon

    “It's still magic even if you know how it's done.” 
  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505

    Erysmium Bowles mauve if you want to keep the colour theme

    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • Busy-LizzieBusy-Lizzie Posts: 24,043

    I have salvia Blauhugel, comes up every year and the bees love it. Flowers for a lot longer than lavender. I can't remember where I bought it though. But there are other salvia nemorosa varieties.

    Dordogne and Norfolk. Clay in Dordogne, sandy in Norfolk.
  • IamweedyIamweedy Posts: 1,364

    lovegardening77

    I had some very woody lavender. I buried the roots of the whole plant quite deeply and it seems to be sprouting again. I have never succeded with taking  normal cuttings, but the burying the whole plant seems to work. I am still not certain it will work but worth a try.

    I wondering if it is because the old woody roots still have enough energy to power new shoots.

    I am sure I heard this trick somewhere on this forum.




    'You must have some bread with it me duck!'

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