Lavender
Lavandula angustifolia
Silver, fragrant and full of bees — moths and aphids keep away.
- Type
- Herb · Perennial
- Botanical family
- Mixed / other
- Foliage color
- Silver and gray · Green
- Flower color
- Purple and violet
- Sunlight
- Full sun
- Watering
- Low
- Soil
- Poor, dry, free-draining
- Feeding
- Rarely needs feeding; a little potash on poor soil is the most it asks for.
- USDA zones
- 5a–9b
- Frost tolerant
- Yes
- Flowering
- June
- Pruning
- Trim once flowering is over, and never cut back into old bare wood.
- Plant out
- at the last spring frost
- First harvest
- 60 days after the last spring frost
- Harvest ends
- 14 days before the first fall frost
- Mar–Jun Bud Break
- Jun–Sep Flowering
- Sep–Dec Growing
- Jan–Mar Growing
- Plant spacing
- 23.6 in
- In-row spacing
- 23.6 in
- Between rows
- 2 ft 11 in
- Square-foot density
- Not suited to SFG
- Root system
- Woody and fibrous
- Working depth
- 12–24 in
- Can reach
- 3 ft down where the soil allows
- Spread
- 3–4 ft across, about 1.5–2× the width of the plant
- Shallowest pot
- 20 in of soil
A shallow woody framework with the fine feeding roots in the leaf litter above it. Those feeders are mostly under the outer half of the canopy rather than against the stem, which is where water and feed should go.
Everything lavender asks for is about the roots: sharp drainage, no mulch against the stem, and no rich feeding. Wet ground in winter kills far more plants than cold does.
The habit is Lavender’s own; the figures are what that habit usually comes to at this size, not a measurement of this species. Roots follow the soil either way: a compacted pan, a high water table or heavy clay stops them well short of any of it, and deep open ground lets them go further.
- Cats and dogs
- Recorded toxic
Recorded as toxic to cats and dogs by ASPCA.
Filed toxic, which surprises most gardeners. The ASPCA lists lavender for dogs, cats and horses despite it being a common culinary herb. It also prints the genus as Lavendula; the accepted spelling, and ours, is Lavandula.
- When
- Harvest flower stems in early–mid summer when the bottom third to half of the florets on each spike have opened — for the strongest oil and best bud retention when dried, some pick just as the buds show full color but before opening. Cut mid-morning on a dry day, after dew but before heat.
- What to look for
- Spikes richly colored, the lowest flowers just opening, and the whole bush humming with scent. Fully open or fading spikes shed buds when dried and have already spent much of their oil.
- How to harvest
- Cut stems as long as possible, down to just above the leafy growth, gathering a bunch in one hand and cutting with secateurs or a serrated harvest knife. When trimming after harvest, never cut into bare old wood — lavender will not regrow from it.
- How often
- Most varieties give one main flush per year; cutting the first flush promptly often earns a smaller second flush in late summer, especially from English lavenders. Annual harvest-plus-trim keeps the shrub compact and productive for many years.
- Storing the crop
- Hang bunches of 50–100 stems upside down in a dark, warm, airy place for 2–4 weeks; darkness preserves the color. Once dry, use stems whole or rub the buds off into jars — dried buds keep their fragrance for a year or more in airtight storage and go into sachets, baking (use culinary varieties), and infusions.
- Rosemary beetle A small metallic green-and-purple striped beetle that grazes rosemary, lavender, sage, and thyme. Shake branches over a tray to collect adults and larvae.
- Gray mold (botrytis) Gray mold
- Root & crown rot Root rot in soil that stays wet
- Frost damage Frost damage on the tender varieties
Roses, Thyme, Sage, Echinacea
Lavender thrives on neglect — poor, dry soil gives the strongest scent.
The Cottage Garden Companion — the gardener's herbarium at cottagegardencompanion.com