Prune lavender plants as they start to develop
Helen Chesnut
Q I’ve been wondering whether to cut the flower stems off a group of small lavender plants installed in a garden plot this spring. I think removing them would help the plants to fill out better, but the family doesn’t want to give up the flowers.
A: I’m in favour of pruning and shaping very young shrubby plants as they begin developing. Last spring, I planted five small lavenders that took hold beautifully and in late May began forming a few flower stems. I cut them off, and did another light trimming in early summer to keep the plants tidy.
The effect of the trimming has been gratifying as the little lavender plants have formed neatly plump little bushes. Q Last year, my raspberry canes wilted and dried up suddenly, just as they were about to produce a crop of berries. Thinking drainage was the problem, I replanted the canes in a raised bed, but the same thing is happening this year.
A: You are probably dealing with raspberry root rot, caused by water moulds whose spores swim in soil water to infect roots and crowns. Plants in poorly drained soils are most susceptible.
If your replanted canes were from the original, infected planting, some of the infectious organisms probably remained. As well, extremely rainy weather last fall and this spring kept soils unusually wet.
Consider a new planting, using purchased, disease-free plants, in a new, sunny area as far away from the current planting as possible. Make sure the soil drains well, and is adequately supplied with calcium, which helps to suppress rot. You can plant in the fall, though in your situation early spring may be safer.
The ever-bearing raspberry Autumn Bliss has some resistance to root rot. Among the summer-bearing raspberry varieties with some tolerance to the disease are Meeker, Nootka, Latham, Cascade Bounty and Cascade Delight. Malahat and Tulameen are especially susceptible to root rot.
Remove the infected planting, roots and all, and dispose of it. Do not place in the compost.