[breezyacre]

I established a lavender bed in the lawn 2 years ago. I am finding however that it is a difficult job to keep it weed free and looking well. Up to now I have been weeding manually. This is effective when I have the time to do it. The drawbacks are that I have broken some of the little lavender branches ( as I have sown them quite densely), while weeding and some of the weeds have grown very near to the base of the plants making them difficult to weed without doing some damage to the plants' root system. I am now considering spraying the weeds with roundup or something and covering the ground with bark. I don't like using chemical sprays but I feel at this stage it may be the only real option. As always I would appreciate your opinion on this particularly if you have encountered a similar situation.

[Sive]

HI breezyacre....I just wonder if your best bet here is to start again.......if your plants are only 2 years old, they could be lifted and the weeds teased out from their bases. Then you could spray the bed, put weed-block material down and replant the lavender and finish off with a mulch.
I don't see how you could spray with the lavender still in the ground, but I'm no expert in chemicals. Maybe you could ask in a good garden centre if it is possible?

[PennyG]

Hi there and Welcome,

[cooler]

I feel your pain breezyacre. I had lavender with grass growing up through it as well before. Absolute nightmare to weed as I kept breaking the brittle branches. One thing you could do is tease any weeds down through the plants branches, in the case of weedy grass flatten it on the ground. Then wipe on a weedkiller solution with a sponge or paint brush.

[breezyacre]

Thanks for your interest guys. I have asked around and one of my colleagues has given me both "roundup" and "gallop" which essentially do the same job ie they will kill anything green down to the roots but will not harm bark . I am waiting for a still day to spray.