extremely overwatered lavender & russian sage

Question

both my lavender & russian sage have thrived for 2 years in our garden flower bed til this summer. my husband has flooded them on a daily basis for a few weeks because of triple digit weather this summer. i wasn’t aware of this til today when i noticed my plants have mutiple dead looking steam & the plants stems are lying over on the ground.
is there any way to save them, or should i pull them out & start again. i am 74 years old & not able to do hard labor in my garden anymore. HELP!!

Answer 1

They may not look good for a while but I doubt your husband caused enough root rot to kill the plants. If you have heavy clay or poorly-draining soil then only time will tell. Heavy soils should be amended to improve drainage so prolonged rainfall doesn’t affect plants. Let him know that sages and lavender are semi-desert plants and thrive in hot, dry weather. Trim out any stems that look shriveled and dead. Pull back mulch near those plants so the soil dries faster. Resist the temptation to feed them to help them bounce back. Too much water results in root rot and the plant may be too injured to respond to fertilizer without exhausting itself. It needs to concentrate on below ground development instead of top growth. He sounds like a good man to be out there in the heat and watering. The rest of your plants applaud his efforts.