A Grower Perspective

 Now is the time to harvest and prune your lavender plants. What a fragrant job! For some folks this is the culmination of a year of growing and the harvest bringing in flowers, which then turn into sachets, bundles, wreaths and oils. For the home gardener it may mean filling the house with bouquets of sweet scent that will last throughout the winter as a reminder of the sunny summer days.

To prune lavender I use two tools, a hand scythe and hand hedge pruners. I harvest the flowers with the scythe and then shape

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If you want to read a great piece about creating stress-relieving outdoor spaces, check out this article in today's (7/23/09) Register-Guard's Home & Garden special section:

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  When is a good time to plant? This is a common question that I am asked by customers and random people at cookouts and dinner parties. Many people think that you only plant in fall or spring. In my experience this isn't the case. I have planted in July and August and the plants have grown and done well. If you plant in summer the key is to water the root ball once every three days to the point of saturation. I usually turn the hose on very low and lay it at the base of the plant and let it run for about an hour. This allows for a deep watering that will sustain the plant through the warm summer days. With a little fastidiousness you can plant when you are inspired and not by the seasons.

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It’s hard to get people to agree on nearly anything, including plants. We all have our favorite plants yet what we love can be a nightmare for others. For me it’s getting to know a person, place, plant or T. V. show, which allows me to make a decision on how I feel about them. I do make snap judgments, sometimes this is necessary, but I have found slowly learning to get to know things helps me make a more informed decision. We recently received a strong reaction back about one of our plant of the weeks. Many things I liked and admired about the plant were not at all appreciated by this reader. Fair enough.

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I’d like to share a volunteer project we completed today at O’Hara Catholic School on West 18th in Eugene, Oregon.

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