Drooping Lavender help!

dan_spoonerP65LDuqP

Hi All,
I planted two new lavender plants around 2.5m apart in the same bed in May this year. One is thriving, with it's shoots growing strongly upwards. The other lavender is drooping (picture attached). Most of it's flowers are to the sides/towards the ground. There aren't any signs of browning on the plant and it's still flowering and attracting bees. 
The soil was already pretty rocky and did already have some sand in it when I planted them both but I'll admit, I didn't add any extra sand when planting. 
Does anyone have any advice to help? As above, both are in the same bed so get similar sunlight and rain levels. Wondering whether to dig the drooping one up and replant with extra sand or wait and see if next years flowers perform better after a autumn prune?
Any help would be much appreciated! 

tui34

Hi - the lavender plant looks fine to me.  The flowers are probably top heavy.

JennyJ

It looks fine and healthy to me! Is the other one a different distance from the fence? Or from buildings, other plants etc? I'm thinking maybe that one gets more of the downdrafts/eddies when it's windy. Or maybe they're not identical varieties. Or maybe one gets slightly more sun from above than the other.

dan_spoonerP65LDuqP

JennyJ said:

It looks fine and healthy to me! Is the other one a different distance from the fence? Or from buildings, other plants etc? I'm thinking maybe that one gets more of the downdrafts/eddies when it's windy. Or maybe they're not identical varieties. Or maybe one gets slightly more sun from above than the other.

Thanks for the reply. Both are the same distance from the fence and the other is only around 2.5m away to the right so they should be the same conditions. It's a strange one as the other is much more upright! 

TheGreenMan

They won't always grow the same way even if they are the same plant and in the same position/conditions etc.  I think it's just had a growth spurt of flowers before the plant itself has had chance to catch up.

I would chop the flowering stems down once they have finished and dried (maybe use them indoors) or leave them until next spring as protection before cutting them off and the plant may catch up next year.  I'm sure the bees don't care where the flowers are.

I would also keep an eye on that plant coming through the fence.

Looks like bindweed.

dan_spoonerP65LDuqP

TheGreenMan said:

They won't always grow the same way even if they are the same plant and in the same position/conditions etc.  I think it's just had a growth spurt of flowers before the plant itself has had chance to catch up.

I would chop the flowering stems down once they have finished and dried (maybe use them indoors) or leave them until next spring as protection before cutting them off and the plant may catch up next year.  I'm sure the bees don't care where the flowers are.

I would also keep an eye on that plant coming through the fence.

Looks like bindweed.

Thank you for the reply! I'm going to cut the flowers once dried and hopefully that should help next year.

The plant coming through the fence is bindweed. I've just spent the weekend digging out a 3x2m area of it in another part of the garden and it's a menace. Applied some weedkiller to the bindweed in this picture after I took it and going to make sure I stay on top of it! 

Joyce Goldenlily

It could possibly be lack of water although the leaf shoots look fine, perhaps the soil around that plant, which is closer to the fence, is more stony. I certainly would not add any more sand. I give my lavender bushes a dusting of lime each year which apparently lavender likes. Another possibility is that the droopy plant is getting less light, shaded by the fence, so growing a bit weedy and weak.

TheGreenMan

dan_spoonerP65LDuqP said:

Thank you for the reply! I'm going to cut the flowers once dried and hopefully that should help next year.

The plant coming through the fence is bindweed. I've just spent the weekend digging out a 3x2m area of it in another part of the garden and it's a menace. Applied some weedkiller to the bindweed in this picture after I took it and going to make sure I stay on top of it! 

I’ve been tackling it for my neighbour. Mainly so it doesn’t kill all of her plants and also so it is less likely to come into mine. 

If it helps: don’t dig it up. Stick some canes around where it is growing. Let it grow up them and then pull the cane out and stuff it all in a pot and fill the pot with weed killer. Any bits you can’t get in a pot just spray the leaves and be patient. 

I’ve been doing this for a couple of months and it’s losing momentum. 

Digging it out inevitably leads to more new plants as it’s very difficult getting every bit of root out. Each broken bit of root will end up a new plant. 

Slow and steady and weed killer and you might defeat it or weaken it enough for you to be victor. 

Marlorena

As others have said, there's nothing wrong with your Lavender, ...it's just flowering towards the light,.. which will be away from the fence...  if you moved the plant forward it might alleviate the problem somewhat..  it won't flower much towards the fence as it's the shady side... your other Lavender may get more direct sun than this one..