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Clipped Shape: Lavender flowers from mid-to late summer and is pruned by lightly trimming over the plants in late summer, using a pair of sharp hand shears. Do not cut into young shoots; just trim off the old flowers.
If a plant has become particularly straggly, cut the stems hard back in late spring. This encourages the development of new young shoots from the plant's base. Lavender hedges are clipped shape to shape in spring.
some cases, edging is purely ornamental, but in others it s needed to keep surface materials such as gravel and bark n place, and to keep soil from overflowing from the beds.
NOT ALL surfaces need to be edged but it often adds the finishing touch. Use bricks or tiles or, for a more informal, rustic effect, logs. Plants themselves can also be used as edging. Low clipped shape hedges of box go particularly well with brick or stone surfaces. Lavender is a more decorative choice and it can also be clipped shape into neat shapes.
Use edging around flowerbeds to stop the soil overflowing on to surrounding areas, especially gravel or paths laid with chipped bark. Edging also helps prevent the edges of hard surfaces breaking away or sinking.
Bricks set in a number of ways are commonly used for edging, as is stone, but you can also use logs in a woodland setting. Tiles also serve the purpose well.
THIS INFLUENCES design considerably. Few plots are symmetrical, but that really does not matter. An L-shape or a triangle can even offer more design potential than a rectangle. Perhaps the most difficult shape of all is a square, particularly when it is too small to subdivide as in many yards in front. A design for an awkward shape needs to be carefully thought out. A long thin area, for example, can be divided into contrasting sections with barriers across its width, but by leaving a narrow view running through from one end to the other you create an additional sight line. Furthermore, by placing an ornamental feature like a statue or seat at the far end, you gain the full benefit from the site's length while the screens minimize the disadvantages of its shape. |
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