Lavender Cuttings
Propagating Lavender - How to Propagate Lavender?
Growing Lavender from cuttings is the only way to reproduce some types of Lavender. There are those Lavender plants that do not produce seeds and those that do, often don't produce offspring that are anywhere similar to the parent plant.
Lavender cuttings are the means to propagate Lavender and you will have the joy of knowing that what you see(take cuttings from) will be what you get(exactly the same characteristics of the parent plant). In other words, you are basically cloning the host plant to produce or propagate Lavender plants.
Propagating Lavender - How to Take Cuttings?
Lavender propagation by Lavender cuttings is easy to do if you have a large Lavender already growing in your garden. If not, then you will need to find or befriend someone willing to share cuttings from their plant. Sometimes when pruning Lavender there are suitable sized pieces remaining to grow from cuttings.
Tip cuttings from Lavender may be taken anytime of the year except for winter. Lavandula angustifolia(English Lavender) may be propagated from cuttings either in spring or early fall. Spring cuttings often root faster when growing Lavender plants from cuttings.
Lavandula stoechas(Spanish Lavender) cuttings do better when taken in early autumn when the plant has numerous short side shoots which makes obtaining suitable size pieces for taking Lavender cuttings easy.
To take cuttings simply remove the short 3 - 4 inch side shoots by pulling downwards sharply to produce a "heel" or a piece that has a small strip of woody skin attached. Strip away any leaves from the lower third, dip in rooting hormone if you are using, and then insert the cutting into some damp sand.
These new cuttings should produce roots in about two weeks time. Keep the sand slightly damp and place them in filtered sunlight. You have now learned how to take Lavender cuttings and about propagating Lavender plants from Lavender cuttings!