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Are you nursing a lavender plant at home or in your garden and you’re wondering why your lavender has suddenly started to die?
This article would help you see possible reasons why your lavender is dying and some effective ways you can help it.
But before that, we’ll look at some interesting facts about the lavender plant.
Lavender is a flowering plant that’s a part of the mint family, that can be easily recognised by its sweet floral scent.
Lavender is under the genus Lavandula.
Currently, there are more than 45 different species of the lavender flower with over 450 varieties,
More lavender species/varieties have yet to be classified.
The lavender flower is believed to be native to the Indians, the Middle East, and the Mediterranean with a history of its existence going as far back as 2,500 years.
In ancient times, lavender was used as a perfume and was also seen as a healing plant. In the ancient Roman era, it was known for its antiseptic and healing purposes.
The Ancient Greeks also used lavender to cure body aches and fight sleeplessness.
Lavenders are strong, resilient plants that can thrive in their native Mediterranean range in the full blazing sun, with well-drained, sandy soil with a low fertility rate.
Lavenders can be very easy to grow even in harsh conditions such as drought. They’re tolerant plants that grow as long as you copy some of the situations of their natural range.
We have looked at the lavender flower and also its qualities, now let’s look at the possible reasons your lavender flower can start dying as shown below:
Reason your lavender is dying.
- Too much Watering (Drooping Appearance with Brown/ yellow leafage)
- Slow water drainage(Too much humidity Around the Roots)
- Inadequate sunlight(Lavenders generally need at least 6 hours per day)
- Wrong soil acidity:a pH of about 6.5 is the best span for soil acidity
- Wrong species of Lavender for Your Climate: The Climate condition may be Too Humid For excellent lavender growth
Below are Some Of The Reason and Possible Solution to Why Your Lavenders are Dying :
- The most likely reason your lavender is dying is due to overwatering. Lavenders tend to thrive in the scorching dry summer weather in the Mediterranean region of Europe.
Therefore lavender flowers are incredibly tolerant to very dry weather conditions like droughts and require fairly little water to be healthy and produce flowers.
Lavender roots tend to thrive more in dry soil that drains quickly and holds little moisture around the roots. It may begin to develop root rot and visibly show signs of stress.
Watering lavender with the same frequency as other plants in your garden
The solution to the Problem:
• Recently planted lavenders can be watered Once per week for the first four weeks.
• Lavender in the first Two years of Growth can be watered Once every two weeks if there is little Or no rainfall during this period.
2. Slow water drainage: lavenders prefer sandy soil, a sandy crumbly structure. That allows water to pass through without holding onto moisture.
Lavender will not do well in soils that are heavy and compacted or soil that contains a lot of organic matter or clay soil, as they will likely hold onto water which leads to the disease root rot and the plant will turn brown and slowly die.
The solution to the problem:
• You can Move the lavender into a pot for superior drainage.
• Temporarily remove the lavender from the ground, amend the soil with sand or grit and then replant the lavender back into the soil
Once you have either moved the lavender into a conducive pot or amended the soil with sand and grit in the planting area to make it more comfortable then it should take around 3 weeks for the roots to dry out properly and the drooping or brownish appearance should be gone.
3. Inadequate sunlight: in their countries of origin, such as Italy, Spain, and southern France, lavenders get to flourish under the sun all the time, so for your plant to flourish well, you choose the sunniest part of your garden to plant them.
The number of flowers, oil, and aroma your lavender will produce, greatly depends on how much sunlight it gets.
Interesting fact:
Lavenders need at least 6 hours of direct sunlight each day during the spring and summer seasons to grow successfully. If they receive less than the required 6 hours of sunlight each day, lavenders will have poor growth, a lack of colour in the leaves, poor fragrance, and may likely die.
Sunlight also chases evaporation from the surrounding soils and can reduce humidity in the soil which will minimize the chance of any disease such as disease rot in lavenders.
The solution to this problem:
If your lavender shows poor growth, and a lack of flowers then you need to move the plant to the sunniest location in your garden.
4. Soil acidity: Lavenders can grow well in both mildly acidic and alkaline soils that range from pH 6.5 to pH 7.5.: but, If the soil is more acidic than pH 6.5, it is unlikely the lavender will live for very long or achieve its full potential of producing blooming, healthy, grown plants.
The solution to the problem:
If you have discovered your soil is too acidic, for growing lavender (less than pH 6.5) then you should transfer the lavender to another pot with new soil and 30% sand for good drainage as soon as possible.
To move your soil from ‘too acidic’ to the right range for lavenders, you can add a lime amendment.
5. The wrong type of lavender for the climate: There’s a wide variety of lavender that are natives of different countries and their climates.
For instance, The Spanish and Italian variants of lavender, cannot strive under harsh climates but the English species even if they flourish in sunny weather conditions, can still bloom and produce flowers and aroma.
The solution to the problem:
If you plan on growing lavenders in an area that experiences cold winters then it’ll be advisable for you to plant the English lavender species as this will take the cooler winters in its stride.
6. The Climate may be Too Humid For Lavenders:
Humid climates with slow rates of evaporation are not the best temperature for lavenders as the soil tends to be too moist for their roots which can lead to rotting or fungal disease.
Lavenders that are in environments that are too humid or cold Will show signs of stress in the roots as they would be if they were in r-watered soil. They’ll appear with a drooping appearance and browning or yellowing leaves.
The solution to the Problem:
For lavenders to survive with humidity you will have to space the plant at least three feet away from any other vegetation or corners of your garden.
The more exposed the location the lavender flower is planted, the better the airflow they receive the better for the lavender.
Planting lavenders in pots would be a good idea as you can place them in the most exposed or windy location of the garden and keep them away from still air.
7. Forcefully Pruning into Woody Growth:
The most important rule as regards pruning lavenders is to only cut back into green leaves and never cut back into the woody growth.
Cutting back into the woody growth will lead to the lavender splitting and forming a poor shape or dying from shock.
The solution to the Problem:
For excellent results, you should cut back the spent flowers in late summer and prune lavenders during the spring period.
Lavenders generally respond well to pruning as they only produce flowers on new growth.
8. Excess of Nitrogen in the Soil:
If the leaves of your lavender have turned yellow and perhaps have a soggy appearance then this is an indication of an excessive amount of nitrogen in your soil.
excess nitrogen in the soil could be due to the nutrient concentration in the soil or because of added organic or chemical fertilizers.
Established lavenders will not need any additional fertilizer to help them grow.
The solution to the Problem:
When lavender is dying due to excess nitrogen, which is most likely because of excess use of fertilizers on your lavenders then you should cease applying fertilizer immediately and your lavender should give better foliage and bloom by the next season.
In the case where you haven’t added any fertilizer and the lavender is yellow then the soil may be too high in nutrients for lavender.
In this situation, you can either move the lavender to a pot with 70% potting soil and 30% sand or grit. Or you can uproot the lavender and add plenty of sand and grit to the planting area before replanting.
In summary, whichever of these reasons above could be the cause of your lavender dying and can be easily stopped by the already outlined simple steps. With these, you can save your lavender from dying.
