There’s a reason lavender is a garden staple in the UK. Its bright green foliage and purple blooms remain bright and fragrant in the summer months, turning silvery in the cold weather. By September, most English lavenders have finished their main flush, the flower spikes are browning, and the plants settle into tight mounds of grey-green foliage. This is exactly when the stems are firm at the base and still pliable at the tip.
Gardening expert Adam Kirtland, known online as ‘View From The Potting Bench,’ says it’s an apt time to turn routine pruning into instant propagation, so every trim becomes a new plant. “If you want more lavender in your garden, do this now,” he said. Lavender thrives in full sun and free-draining soil, shrugs off drought once established, draws in pollinators, and copes well with coastal breezes and light frosts across much of the UK.
Showing off his impressive display of garden lavender plants, Adam said, “There is so much material on an old lavender plant for you to take cuttings from.”
Adam notes that you should always pick a healthy, non-flowering shoot from this year’s growth. “Find yourself a healthy stem,” and avoid the very woody base and flimsy tip by choosing the soft.
“What we’re looking for is something with a nice soft bottom and woody stem,” ideally cut just below a leaf node with clean secateurs.
Remove all of the lower leaves until you’ve got a small stem ready to pot up, and nip off any flower buds so the cutting puts energy into roots.
According to the gardening expert, you’ve got a couple of options once you’ve taken your cuttings.
Either fill a large pot with around five cuttings around the edge, or get a small pot instead and put one right in the middle.
Use a gritty, free-draining compost, firm the stems in, and remember to give them a “really good watering.” Adam warned: “If you don’t do this, they probably just won’t root.”
Once watered, put a plastic bag over the top of the pots to keep the moisture in or place them somewhere sheltered, bright, and out of harsh midday sun.
Then, “wait until you see what they look like a couple of weeks later,” said Adam.
Fresh leaves and brighter growth signal roots, at which point you can plant straight out or grow them in small pots. Before you know it, you can build up a “wonderful scented lavender hedge”.
The Royal Horticultural Society notes that plants grown from cuttings will be identical to the parent plant, so you won’t grow a new variety.
It’s not just semi-ripe cuttings you can take in September. The RHS suggest saving seeds from dry seedheads in late summer, storing them over winter and sowing in spring into small pots or trays of seed compost.
This method may produce lavender plants that vary from the parent, which is worthwhile if you want a variety of lavender in your garden.