Lavender stems black
linzijayne74
Posts: 198
Hi (again!), all. Last year I planted three lavender plants in a concrete trough. It was placed in a fairly shady spot although it had some sun during the mornings. Also, unbeknownst to me for quite some time, my husband had been watering it in the morning AND in the evening during a hot spell we'd been having.
Fast forward to the present day - it's now in a much sunnier spot in the garden but its stems from the base are largely black, brittle and woody. However, on the top of most of these woody stems there *are* a fairly numerous amount of green shoots appearing and today I even noticed there's some buds threatening to burst open! I'm still concerned about the stems though and wondered what my next and best course of action should be - is it worth perhaps putting it in some new compost to maybe give it a new lease of life? Or leave it as it is? (I do apologise if this is a 'basic' and daft question to most of you but I must stress I'm very new to gardening and all the intricacies it presents!). Any advice gratefully received. Many thanks in advance. 
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Providing the soil it's planted in is gritty and free draining, excess water isn't a huge issue. A nice light soil is the ideal. As much sun as it can get is also important. The shady site they've been in isn't the best spot for them.
They do get woody, but I'd agree with hollie, if there's green growth there, I'd leave them just now and let them grow on. If they were small plants you put in, they'll take a while to get to a good size. Once they've flowered, prune back lightly, just into the fresh green foliage, to encourage new, bushier growth. You probably can't do much about the stems at this stage, but if the plants go on to thrive, the stems will get covered up reasonably well as the plants spread. You can try pruning a few shoots a bit harder and see what happens, but do it well before autumn so that the plants get a good chance of producing new growth which will toughen up before the cold weather.
If they still look a bit lousy at the end of the year, might be best to start again though.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
I lost a lavender completely last year for no reason that I can see. It had seeded on the path below so all is not lost.
They like it hot and dry but they can get a bit leggy and woody. I would love a nice tidy lavender "hedge" so I'm going to try what HH and FG have said. I was treating mine like broom and just shaping the outside bits but I'll maybe be a bit braver and see what happens. I was alway told not to cut back to the old wood but I'll maybe try a stem or two.
Here's hoping.
Hi there! Thanks so much for your replies and feedback; it's really appreciated. (Sorry I haven't thanked you sooner - could have sworn I'd set my settings to receiving an email when someone responded but I haven't seen any such notifications in my emails; will re-check settings).
As you say, I'm encouraged by the fact that there's green shoots and growth; this is why I was reluctant to do anything drastic without asking everyone first. I've trimmed back some of the stems that have seemingly gone to that lavender garden in the sky and will now further follow your kind advice as above.
Many thanks for taking the time to get back to me.