How to grow Lavender

Lavandula angustifolia · English lavender, true lavender

An aromatic evergreen subshrub with spikes of fragrant purple flowers from June to August; grown in borders, herb gardens and for drying. Toxic to cats, dogs and horses.

Quick facts

Type	Flower
Family	Lamiaceae
Light	Full sun
Soil pH	6.5–7.5
Frost	tolerates light frost
Soil for sowing	from 10 °C
Germination	14 days
Where it grows	Greenhouse, Open ground, At home

When to plant

It tolerates light frost: sow straight into the bed about three weeks before your last spring frost.

In an unheated greenhouse everything moves about three weeks earlier.

Frost dates · When to plant

Care

Greenhouse

Stage	Watering	Temperature	Feeding
Germination	every 7 days	—	—
Growth	every 14 days	—	—
Flowering	every 7 days	—	—

Open ground

Stage	Watering	Temperature	Feeding
Germination	every 7 days	—	—
Growth	every 14 days	—	—
Flowering	every 7 days	—	—

At home

Stage	Watering	Temperature	Feeding
Germination	every 7 days	—	—
Growth	every 7 days	—	organic, at the start of the stage
Flowering	every 7 days	—	—

Growing notes

Light

Needs full sun, at least six hours a day.

Soil

Light, sandy or gravelly, well-drained soil, pH 6.5–7.5; chalky and alkaline soils suit it. It fails in heavy clay or soil that stays wet in winter, where root rot sets in.

Care

Plant in spring after the last frost, 45–60 cm apart. Water weekly until established; after that it is drought tolerant and needs water only in dry spells, while pots need regular watering in summer. No feeding is needed in the ground. Trim every year just after flowering, removing the spent flower stalks and about 2.5 cm of leafy growth, but never cut into the old woody stems, which rarely sprout again.

Sources

Figures checked against these sources.