How to Grow Lavender

Every garden should have a few lavender bushes. Some varieties flower from mid-June to September. The silver foliage deserves a space on it's own merit.

They keep themselves neat and tidy with a single annual pruning and they are relatively free from pests and disease. The final bonus is that they withstand drought extremely well.

Species and Varieties
There are in excess of 50 species of Lavender plants which come in a wide variety of sizes, hardiness, flowers and foliage. The main varieties widely available are discussed below.

English Lavender (Lavandula.angustifolia)

Lavandula.angustifolia Size of height and spread is normally within the range 45cm to 75cm (1½ft to 2½ft). Given time these lavenders form mounds and this looks impressive when lots of tem are planted together.
The flowers appear from late Spring right through to late summer. Lavandula.angustifolia is often incorrectly referred to as Lavandula.officinalis or vera.

English lavender makes an excellent low level hedge. Maintenance is simple, the massed flowers are truly glorious and the scent is spectacular. Often overlooked is the fact that lavender attracts a wide variety of insects.

If you want to buy lavender plants online from our recommended suppliers then click here.

Lavandin or Dutch Lavender (Lavandula.x intermedia)
The stems of Lavandins are longer than English Lavender and when mature these plants have a height and spread of about 90cm (3ft). This makes them ideal as low hedging plants.

Lavandula.stoechas

These lavenders are not so easy to grow in temperate climates such as the UK because they do not survive our wet winters very well.
They produce dark purple flowers up to 4cm (1½in) long. Impressive but only suitable for very free draining soils. Best suited to being a specimen plant in a pot or tub where soil conditions can be closely controlled.

Lavandula.stoechas Kew Red

Lavandula.dentata
These lavenders are half hardy. They are identified by the leaves which have deep "teeth" up their entire length. The flowers (bracts in truth) are unusually shaped and appear on the ends of very long stems.

NEXT PAGE - WHERE, WHEN, HOW TO PLANT LAVENDER

Name: Susan Connoly
E-mail: susanconnolly65@yahoo.co.uk
Date posted: August 28, 2010 - 03:33 pm
Message: My lavender is beautiful, very prolific, with lots of bloom. But, underneath it is extremely woody. When pruning time arrives I am going to be left with these woody branches,which no doubt will bear fruit next year.

I hate to dig them up, but I feel it is time they moved out for younger brothers or sisters to take their place.

Today I have visited the nursery and purchased five new pots of lavender. Should I bite the bullet and dig my friends up. What is the alternative?