Hello,
Located in 5a, I have two different types of lavender.
a. ‘Essence Purple’ (pic Right) – planted on the ground that gets morning and late afternoon sun. Covered with burlap to overwinter. In spring I pruned a little, when it flowered I picked and made dried flowers. It became 1.5 times larger.
b. Possibly regular English Lavender (pic Left) – picked flowers when bloomed, still in the pot in the sunny place
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Question about a: I want to move it to separate from rhododendron that’s also getting larger next to it. Should the relocation be next spring?
Question about b: How to overwinter it? Would it be fine if I planted it on the ground now (before it gets frozen) so I can cover it with burlap?
I also checked https://www.torontomastergardeners.ca/askagardener/winter-preparation/
Congratulations on the success with your lavender plants. Lavenders, native to the Mediterranean areas, are very drought-tolerant sub-shrubs requiring a full sun location in good-draining, gritty-gravelly alkaline soils. Once established, they require only pruning in the late fall or in the spring. We receive a number of questions on how to properly grow and transplant lavender the following excerpt is from one of our archived posts:
“Typically, lavender should be planted about two to three feet apart, depending on the size of the variety, to ensure there is adequate spacing to allow good air circulation. This spacing will help to reduce fungal diseases, and provide good access to sunlight. It would be best to transplant in the early spring before the buds break to ensure the roots have enough time to establish in their new location. When you transplant, use a pitchfork rather than shovel to dig up the root ball to reduce the chances of damaging the roots. Starting at the crown of the plant, dig toward the root at a 45-degree angle and work your way around the circumference of the plant, lifting the root ball as you go, then gently remove the root ball from the soil, teasing away the soil from the roots to avoid damaging them.”
Fall can be a good time to transplant plants into the garden; if your soil conditions are good for lavender, one might be able to put the plants into the ground before the weather becomes too cool, usually 6 weeks before the ground freezes. Since your plant is still in it’s pot I would advise you to bury the pot in the ground in a protected area of your garden for the winter and transplant the lavender into the ground in the spring. Make sure that you provide winter protection with a mulch of straw or dry leaves once the ground freezes to keep the roots insulated.
For more lavender information you may wish to checkout some of our earlier posts here
Also, you may wish to check out our You Tube video on How to Prune Lavender