How to Plant and Grow Lavender

When you see photos of the famed lavender fields of Provence, France, it's love at first sight. A shrubby perennial native to the Mediterranean region, lavender might be the most enjoyable of all herbs. It appeals to almost every sense, with its calming scent, pungent taste, dainty flowers, and velvety gray-green leaves. Bonus points: It is deer-resistant and attracts butterflies and pollinators! Successfully growing lavender, however, depends on your type of garden soil, location, and climate.

Note that not all lavender varieties are suitable for cooking; some lavenders are only grown for their ornamental value. It is usually the flowers of culinary lavender that are dried for cooking although some recipes from the South of France feature the fragrant leaves.

Where to Plant Lavender

When planting lavender, take your cues from the sun-drenched lavender fields in Provence and plant it in the sunniest spot possible, with excellent drainage. Lavender can put up with drought, heat, and wind but it does not do well in soggy soil. In its native habitat in the Mediterranean, lavender grows in rocky, slightly alkaline soils and performs best in a pH range of 6.5 to 8.2. The more your planting site mimics these conditions, the better the plant will do.

When designing a garden bed with lavender, keep in mind the mature growth of surrounding plants and give lavender a spot where other plants won’t cast any shade on it.

How and When to Plant Lavender

Give each lavender plenty of space to promote good air circulation. Spacing should be at least 18 to 24 inches depending on the variety. ‘Edelweiss’, for example, is one of the tallest lavenders that grows 2 feet tall, so it needs about the same spacing as its height. Especially in areas of high humidity, air circulation is key to keeping lavender plants happy.

Dig a hole that easily fits the diameter of the root ball. Lavender has shallow roots about 8 to 10 inches deep, so the planting hole does not need to be much deeper. Mulching around the plant is always a good idea to keep weeds out. Using gravel or black mulch also helps increase the heat around the roots.

Lavender Care Tips

Light

Always grow lavender in full sun, where it can receive at least 8-10 hours of direct sunlight per day.

Soil and Water

Lavender roots need many spaces between soil particles to breathe and grow, so this herb is well suited to sandy or rocky soil. If your garden has heavy clay soil that retains moisture, lavender roots simply rot and die. To create better soil structure, you can add plenty of organic material to the top 4 to 8 inches. Many commercial lavender growers use raised beds to improve drainage, a technique that can be borrowed for the home garden.

Soil pH is also a factor. Lavender grows best in neutral to alkaline soil with a pH of 6.5 to 8.2. Test your soil (turn to your local Cooperative Extension Service for assistance) to be sure.

Lavender only needs watering until it is established; it is otherwise drought-resistant.

Temperature and Humidity

If you live in a cold climate, USDA Hardiness Zone 4 or colder, lavender plants may not grow back the following spring unless you choose the hardiest varieties and offer winter protection.

Snow cover is one of the best insulators for tender plants. If you don't have a reliable amount of snow, protect your plants from winter damage by covering them with dry leaves or straw overlaid with burlap to protect them from drying winds and ice. Remove the covering in early spring to allow the soil to warm and give plants good air circulation.

Fertilizer

Lavender does not need to be fertilized, in fact, it does better in poor soil. Overfertilizing it can lead to excessive but week foliage growth and no flowers.

Pruning

Wait until lavender plants begin growing in spring to prune them. Prune about one third to one half of the plant; if you cut it back so hard that only woody stems show, the plant may die.

After the first flowering, deadheading (removing the spent flower stem) may encourage some plants to rebloom. You can lightly shape the plant at this time but hold off on major pruning until the following spring. Even with the best of care, recognize that lavender plants are short lived, lasting 10 to 15 years at most.

To harvest lavender, gather blossoms when they have just opened. Use individual blooms fresh, discarding the little brown or green caps that hold them to the stems. Or cut entire flower stems to dry

Potting and Repotting Lavender

Gardeners with little in-ground growing space or heavy soil may want to grow lavender in pots. Choose a pot that's just slightly larger than the root ball with a drainage hole. Clay pots offer better air circulation and dry out faster than plastic or ceramic pots. Plant in a soilless potting mix such as one designed for growing cactus or succulents to ensure excellent drainage.

Water sparingly but don't let the plants dry out completely. If you use a saucer below the pot, always drain off excess water. Keep the pots in full sun outdoors. You can grow lavender indoors, but recognize that the amount of light inside a house may never be enough to get flowers.

Pests and Problems

Lavender doesn't have any major pests, but root rot and leaf spot can bother this herb. Avoid overwatering and maintain good air circulation to minimize these problems.

How to Propagate Lavender

Lavender can be grown from seed, but it takes up to three years to grow into a substantial enough size for harvesting. Start with seeds from a seed catalog. Because most lavandin lavenders are a cross of two species, you won’t get good results with seeds that you collected from your own plants.

To get a head start on the growing season, it's a good idea to start seeds indoors. Plant lavender seeds 1 inch apart, just barely covered with a seed-starting potting mix and keep the container moist but not waterlogged in a warm (65 to 70 degrees F) location. Germination starts in two to four weeks.

When plants reach 2 to 3 inches tall, lavender seedlings should be acclimated to outdoor conditions
by gradually increasing the amount of light they receive. Once they are "hardened off," plant them outdoors in a sunny, well-drained spot.

Most lavenders, especially lavandin, are started from cuttings instead of seeds. cut a 4- to 6-inch stem from a healthy plant in the late spring or early summer. Remove all the leaves from the bottom third of the cutting. Dip the cut end in rooting hormone powder and insert it in a 4-inch pot filled with damp potting mix. Place the pot in a sunny location and keep the soil evenly moist. After two to three months, when you gently tug on the cutting and it does not move, roots have formed. Wait for the plant to show some vigorous new growth before planting it in a larger pot or in the landscape.

Types of Lavender

There are many species and hundreds of lavender varieties. Here are a few of the best to grow in gardens.

English Lavender

Considered one of the hardiest lavender, English lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) has dozens of cultivars to choose from. Popular English lavenders include 'Munstead' and 'Hidcote'. They grow well in locations with mild summer heat in Zones 5-9 and reach about 2 feet in height.

Lavandin

These popular lavender types are a cross (Lavandula x intermedia) between English lavender and spike lavender (Lavandula latifolia). Lavandin is equally hardy, usually to Zone 5. Due to its larger flower spike size, this type of lavender is often grown commercially for essential oils.

Spanish Lavender

A lavender that works well in warmer climates (down to Zone 7), Spanish lavender (Lavandula stoechas) has large gray-green leaves and a stout, cylindrical flower head. These are often the earliest lavenders to bloom.

Garden Plans for Lavender

French Kitchen Garden Plan

During the Middle Ages, monks in France typically created kitchen gardens with geometrically shaped beds separated by paths and enclosed within a wall or hedge. This French-style kitchen garden plan reflects this aesthetic with a central diamond-shaped bed and four larger raised beds, with wide brick pathways running between them. It calls for 29 Spanish lavender plants.