The wet summer’s taken it’s toll on Mediterranean type plants like lavender -  they much prefer drier conditions – and when it’s wet, they develop lots of dead patches.

It’s tempting to give the whole plant a hard prune, but lavenders are incredibly sensitive to that sort of treatment, and it can lead to their death. So the best thing to do with a shabby old lavender bush is to use what’s left to propagate new plants that will replace it -  and it’s easy to do.

The best propagating material is at the tips, so start by pruning off a heap of the healthiest growth and head over to the potting bench to prepare your cuttings.

Fill a pot with propagating mix.  I use a 50/50 blend of  coarse sand and moistened coir peat – so it’s reasonably open, but will hold some moisture.

To prepare the cuttings, work your way down from the tip and remove some of the soft flimsy new growth with your secateurs -  you don’t need that. Then go down a little further,  about 7 cm’s or so and make the final cut just below a node or leaf joint – that’s where the roots will form. Strip off most of the lower leaves to reduce moisture loss, and there’s your finished cutting.

Once you’ve done a few, dip the base of the cuttings into a rooting stimulant, place them into the propagating mix, and water them in. To stop the wind from drying your babies out, grab a clear plastic bag, make some breathing holes in the bottom, put a few skewers in the pot as a frame and pop the bag over the top.

Put this into a bright protected spot in the shade, keep the mix moist, and in a month or so, they will have formed roots. When they have, pot them up into their own pots, add a little slow release fertiliser and gradually introduce them to the sun over 2 weeks or so to harden them up.

Spring and autumn are good seasons to be propagating lavender as well as a number of other Mediterranean type herbs like Rosemary, sage, oregano and thyme.