Growing Lavender

How to Plant, Grow, and Care for Lavender

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Lavender is a bushy, strong-scented perennial plant from the Mediterranean. In most regions, its gray to green foliage stays evergreen throughout the year. Here’s how to plant and grow lavender in your garden!

Prized for its fragrance, medicinal properties, and beautiful color, lavender is a valued plant across the world. It also attracts pollinators to the garden.

Planting

Lavender is best planted in the spring as the soil is warming up. If planted in the fall, use bigger plants to ensure survival over the winter.
Plant lavender 2 to 3 feet apart. Plants typically reach between 1 and 3 feet in height.
It thrives in any poor or moderately fertile soil. If you have heavy or clay soil, add some organic matter to improve drainage. Learn more about soil amendments and preparing soil for planting.
Keep away from wet, moist areas.

Care

Add mulch (rock or pea gravel work particularly well) to keep weeds to a minimum. Keep the mulch away from the crown of the lavender plant.
Water once or twice a week after planting until plants are established. Water mature plants every two to three weeks until buds form, then once or twice weekly until harvest.
In cold growing areas, cover the plants with a winter mulch of evergreen boughs or straw.
In cold growing areas, if growing indoors over winter, place pot in a south-facing window with as much light as possible.
Prune established plants in the spring when green leaves start to emerge from the base of the plant. Remove approximately one third of the top.

Pests/Diseases

Fungal diseases, in humid climates
Root rot due to excess water

Harvest/Storage

Harvest the lavender stems when approximately half of the flower buds have opened.
Harvest in the morning hours when the oils are the most concentrated.
Cut stems as long as possible. Gather into bundles and secure them with rubber bands.
Dry the bundles of lavender in a cool, dark place where there is good air circulation.
Use your lavender to make lavender sachets—a lovely gift!

Recommended Varieties

English lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) is hardy to Zone 5 and there are hundreds of varieties available in many colors and sizes. It often blooms twice in one season.
- ‘Hidcote’: Compact, silver-gray foliage, deep purple flowers.
- ‘Munstead’: Compact, green foliage, violet-blue flowers.
A hybrid of English and Portuguese lavender (L. latifolia), Lavandins (L. x intermedia) are generally larger plants that bloom only once, later in the summer.
- ‘Phenomenal’: Vigorous variety that is highly tolerant of heat and humidity and resistant to common root and foliar diseases. Long flower spikes.
- ‘Provence’: Vigorous, long-stemmed variety, very fragrant.
Spanish lavender (L. stoechas) and French or fringed lavender (L. dentata) are only hardy in Zones 7 to 9.

Wit & Wisdom

Lavender oil scent is used for calming, and to induce sleep. Its first documented use was by the Romans in 77 A.D. for repelling insects and soothing insect bites.
Learn more about the benefits of lavender!

Recipes

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Reader Comments

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Lavender Topiary Tree

Do I have to plant this tree outside or can I just keep it in its planter . This way I can move it around . How tall do they get ,Thank you Sharon

lavender

I live in zone 6b near Boston. I planted two small (maybe 4") lavenders in pots six weeks ago--one in plastic and one in a fabric grow bag. They came from a greenhouse at a good local nursery, but I put them in full sun gradually after I repotted them. The plants have room to grow in their pots. I amended the potting mix with coarse sand and compost, but no fertilizer because I was told not to for lavender. I top dressed with pea gravel. I've been deathly afraid of over watering and have been giving them small amounts of water when they were dry several inches down and the moisture meter said they were dry. I planted hidcote and munstead. Some of the larger leaves on the hidcote turned yellow with crispy browntips. The roots are fine. There's no fungus or rot and there's new growth near the crown. It's been boiling hot and very sunny here (90+). The soil pH is 7 and I don't think there's excessive nitrogen in the soil, which I read can also cause yellow leaves. I've been trying to figure this out for weeks, but everyone's advice is either incomplete or contradictory.

I thought they looked unhappy after heavy rain so I bring them inside and put them under a grow light if heavy rains are forecasted. I'm sorry to go into so much detail, but I've been going a bit mad trying to figure this out.

Do you think the yellow leaves and crunchy brown tips could be from the shallow watering and letting the soil get very dry? Yesterday I switched to deep watering until the water runs out the bottom and then wait under the top two inches are dry. They don't look thrilled today, slightly more yellow. Is there anything else I should/shouldn't do? Will they just be a little confused until I get them on a better regime of deep waterings and drying out, but not completely dry?

Thank you for reading this novella and any help you can give me will be greatly appreciated.

no blooms!

I planted one lavender plant weeks ago on my balcony where I grow many potted plants. I think it is a variety of english lavender. I see no sign of blooms or buds. What gives? Thanks.

Lavender and deer

Do deer avoid lavender plants?

deer and lavender

While there’s no plant that is off limits to deer, they do not like lavender as much as other plants. See more here: https://www.almanac.com/content/deer-resistant-plants