Growing lavender provides great beauty to your garden, and it smells great too! This perennial herb has many uses and is easy to grow with the right conditions.
People have been growing lavender for centuries. Many are familiar with the use of lavender essential oils for cleaning, relaxation, and bug repellant. Back in Roman times, lavender was used in religious ceremonies. Today, people even enjoy lavender as a culinary accouterment.
Possibly the best thing about lavender is how easy it is to grow. Lavender plants thrive in a garden, raised beds, or even indoors. You can grow lavender in pots, making it easy to protect from the cold. Or you can make it a part of your perennial gardening practice, and let it die back in winter.
Aromatic herbs are a great addition to a garden for pest control. Lavender in particular produces lovely blooms that you can incorporate into a flower arrangement. With so many lavender varieties, you can choose a cultivar adapted to your area and try another not as suited as an experiment in gardening. You can start growing lavender almost anywhere!
These plants cover a wide range of species all relegated to the Lavendula genus. This guide covers English lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) and French lavender (Lavendula dentata). There are other famous cultivars like Dutch lavender, spike lavender, and the hybrid Lavandula x intermedia (Lavandin). We’ll get into the details of each of these in the next section. Lavender originates from the Mediterranean, where it likes warm, rainy winters and hot, dry summers. It also has roots in southern Asian countries like India and the Middle East. Hybrids have made lavender available worldwide for garden or container planting.
These plants are upright with gray-green foliage and white to deep purple flowers. Leaves are arranged opposite one another on square woody stems. Like other aromatics, lavender is slow-growing and often doesn’t flower in the first year of growth. Healthy plants that are several years old grow up to three feet tall. Bruise a leaf or flower, and fragrant oils are released. This is what lavender is known for best: its light fresh floral scent.
In cooking, lavender flowers are a star of delectable baked goods, teas, and meat rubs. Outside the kitchen, people use lavender in aromatherapy for relaxation, and homemade bug sprays and cleaning agents. It has been used for ages medicinally as a headache soother, nervine, and digestive aid. The root of the word “lavender” comes from the Roman “lavare” which means “to wash”. Those who know the plant know just how clean the scent can make one feel. Lavender originates from the Mediterranean, where it likes warm, rainy winters and hot, dry summers. It also has roots in southern Asian countries like India and the Middle East. Hybrids have made lavender available worldwide for garden or container planting.
These plants are upright with gray-green foliage and white to deep purple flowers. Leaves are arranged opposite one another on square woody stems. Like other aromatics, lavender is slow-growing and often doesn’t flower in the first year of growth. Healthy plants that are several years old grow up to three feet tall. Bruise a leaf or flower, and fragrant oils are released. This is what lavender is known for best: its light fresh floral scent.
In cooking, lavender flowers are a star of delectable baked goods, teas, and meat rubs. Outside the kitchen, people use lavender in aromatherapy for relaxation, and homemade bug sprays and cleaning agents. It has been used for ages medicinally as a headache soother, nervine, and digestive aid. The root of the word “lavender” comes from the Roman “lavare” which means “to wash”. Those who know the plant know just how clean the scent can make one feel. The most well-known of the lavender species are French lavender (Lavandula dentata) and English lavender (Lavandula angustifolia). The main difference between the two lies in the climate they are suited to. English varieties are cold-hardy, whereas French lavender thrives in temperate, humid climates. The English species also live longer than French lavender, at 15 years compared to about five years respectively. English lavender also tends to grow up to 20 inches tall. French lavender grows taller at a maximum of 36 inches.
While most of the lavender species you can buy at a nursery are one of the two aforementioned, the hybrid Dutch lavender (Lavandula x intermedia) is prized for its essential oil. It’s a cross between English and Portuguese lavender and produces tons of flowers that have that essentially lavender fragrance everyone loves so much. Wait until the last frost has passed in late spring to plant lavender transplants in the garden or a pot. It’s possible to transplant in fall, but French varieties most appreciate springtime and summer months. English varieties can survive winter more easily, so they are a better candidate for fall transplants.
Select an area of your garden that has full sun. If you’re not sure about the sun content in the spot you choose, try growing lavender in pots at first. This way you can move your plant around as the season progresses to find the best place. Give lavender plants mildly fertile well-drained soil. This goes for growing lavender in pots and in a garden bed.
It is possible to plant lavender seeds, but they can take up to three weeks to germinate. If you are starting your lavender growing journey this way, start seeds indoors in a potting mix or seed starting mix in early spring or late fall. Make sure the area you start them in has ample sunlight or UV radiation from a grow light. A heating mat helps with germination. Most of all, be patient. It will take at least three months for viable seedlings to grow.