Stimulating growth of skinny lavender?

I have a lavender plant in a pot, which I over-wintered inside. It barely made it, but is alive, one stalk of it at least. It's a skinny, sickly looking thing, but I LOVE lavender and have grown attached to this plant. Repotted it earlier this spring in better soil, put it outside getting morning sun. Should I pinch/prune to stimulate growth? Feed? We live in the mid-atlantic region. Any suggestions would be most appreciated! :)

Stimulating growth of skinny lavender?
Unfortunately, without knowing which species of lavender, this is tough to answer. ...so I will try to generalize...


Most Lavandula like little water all year, not just in winter. They are very draught tolerant. Of course, if it is stunted and suffering, this may not be the best time to quit watering it. I would however begin to acclimate it to more than just morning sun. Watch it for signs of overexposure in harsh afternoon and evening sun, but otherwise give it as much as it can handle, until eventually, it can stand full exposure. As far as the pruning goes, I would probably pinch anything that doesn't look like it will take a lot of energy to save. Force the plant to spend it's time and energy on the parts that are the most alive. Remember that when you repotted it, if you teased the roots as you should, some will naturally be damaged. That's actually fine as long as you aren;t overworking the plant trying to regrow tissue from too many areas. I would also suggest top-dressing with bone meal, a drastically under-utilized item to have in your arsenal. Ahh... I see I have rambled on again... Anyway, goodluck.





Eric the GardeningGeek
Reply:both of your ideas are perfert! cut it back about halfway and give it a nice slow release food like osmocote, available at lowes. in about a month start hitting it with miracle gro every couple of weeks. i betcha it does great. ya know, lavender is a perennial, it can stay outdoors all winter if planted in the ground. it might do better if you plant it and leave it outside next winter. it will die down to the ground when it gets cold but come back the following spring :)