Looking to become a lavender plant expert just in time for the season to begin? You’ve come to the right place, we’re regular lavender fanatics around here. Growing can be intimidating so we’ve hammered out the basics here.
Our Top Varieties For The Garden:
- Anouk Spanish Lavender Tree Form
- English Munstead Lavender
- Grosso Lavender
- Hidcote Lavender
- Phenomenal French Lavender
- Provence Lavender
- Sensational! Lavender
- Silver Mist English Lavender
How To Grow Lavender 101
Planting
First things first, knowing when to plant and where to plant are the hidden keys to success. Not ironically timed at all with this blog *wink wink* young lavender specimens enjoy being planted during the spring where its green foliage can develop in the soil that’s warming up.
However, if you are looking to plant during the fall season, we suggest using a larger, more established lavender plant so that it has a better chance of surviving the cold winter months.
Next, pick out a prime location for your new lavender friends! They’ll thrive in several different soil qualities, stretching from poor to fertile. Add in mulch or organic matter to areas with clay-like or compacted soil. This will help supply good drainage and keep root rot from occurring.
If planting several near one another, you’ll want to give them some space to stretch their limbs out! Two to three feet apart is a solid base to start with. This gives the root balls a little room to grow and gives good air circulation.
Once established, add in color coordinating mulch to keep weeds at bay. It’ll also help protect the roots during winter and conserve water during the summer.
Caring
Now that you have the plant in the ground, how does one go about keeping it alive?
Properly watering established lavender plants is important. Not sure how? Use the finger test! If you stick your finger into the well drained soil and it’s moist, skip watering that day, no one wants to sit in soggy bottoms.
If you live in a colder climate area, don’t leave your lavender plants out for frostbite in the colder months! Cover the surrounding area with winter mulch to help block those chilly nights.
Or, if you prefer to simply bring the plant inside, consider growing in a container. When the plant goes dormant, store it in its pot in a warm, unheated garage.
You’ll want to keep the soil on the drier side instead of wet since they’re quite drought tolerant. They do well with high amounts of sunlight while looking dashing as home decor!
Many gardeners prefer to keep lavender as an annual during the growing season, then toss it when fall comes around.
You’ll also want to care for lavender by giving it a nice trim here and there. Once the lavender flowers begin to fade, keep the plant tidy. Remember to not prune more than a third off the top or else it won’t regrow! Pruning lavender is a key step to keeping the plant happy and healthy.
Harvesting
Since lavender is known for its many uses, gardeners often enjoy growing their own in an herb garden for homemade sweet scents or home decor. The following are tips to keep in mind when harvesting!
Tips For Ideal Harvests:
- Cut the stems when almost half of the flower buds have fully opened
- Morning hours are ideal as the essential oils are more concentrated
- Snip the stems off just before the flowers open
- Keep the stems as long as possible, then bundle with a rubber band
Lavender Cuttings Propagation
When one starts planting lavender and using it for its countless activities, you never go back. You’ll fall in love with the lush green or silvery foliage, the sweet fragrance, and visually pleasant interests.
There’s honestly no such thing as having too many lavender buds! The best part is that lavender is easy to propagate and doesn’t require any special equipment. In fact, propagating lavender is as easy as grabbing a couple cuttings from other, already established, plants.
Feel free to use either the softer, pliable wood tips of newly grown lavender or the thicker woody stem cuttings that resist bending more. Normally, the choice depends on the time of year as softwood (pliable tips) are plentiful in the spring and hardwood (thicker cuttings) are plentiful in the fall.
You’ll want to make sure to snip off a blooming-free stem so that you don’t hurt the plant’s flower power! Blossoms are good candidates for forming roots when establishing a new plant.
Keep in mind that you should always be cutting stems that are healthy, vigorous, and straight. There should be a good green color and no buds peaking through. These will set you up for success when it comes to rooting lavender lavandula!
Once you have chosen your stem, simply cut it off from the rest of the plant then remove all of the leaves that are present near the bottom 2 inches of the stem. Scrape the green skin off from this area and set it aside while you prepare small pots!
Fill your container with potting mix and place the lower 2 inches of the lavender stem into the soil while keeping the cutting straight. Covering it with a plastic bag is a great idea to create a mini greenhouse like environment for young specimens!
Cuttings Care
If you choose a softwood stem, then expect the roots to form within 2 to 4 weeks. Hardwood cuttings will take a while longer. You can check to see if the roots have been established by giving it a very gentle tug.
Slight resistance means that roots are forming and keeping it in place! Consider that a big success. Once you feel that slight pull, go ahead and remove the plastic bag to let your new lavender plant breathe in the fresh air.
Finally, keep the new plant in full sun as lavender enjoys basking in the rays. Also, continue to provide it with water when the soil feels dry. You won’t want a thirsty plant on your hands!
Repeat the cutting propagation process as much as you would like! We won’t tell anyone that you have 34 different lavender plants in the landscape.
Lavender season is quickly approaching! Don’t be late to the purple power party!
Happy Planting!
