How To Grow Lavender

Lavender comes in three main types, English, Italian and French. Italian lavender has two brightly coloured wings at the top of each flower, while the French variety has serrated leaves.

The English variety is known as true lavender and is the most popular with home growers. It has deeply perfumed purple flowers that bloom on square stems from winter to spring with aromatic grey-green foliage.

Growing to 800mm high and 1m wide, this evergreen shrub forms a tight mound if pruned regularly.

It tolerates light frost but wet soil can cause root rot, while high levels of humidity lead to mould problems.

Avoid planting in exposed areas where it can be pummelled by strong winds and instead choose a warm northerly spot that receives full sun.

Position lavender next to a wall or solid fence to protect it during winter nights, as these surfaces retain heat from the day and release it after dark.

Lavender grows well in containers in part to full sun. Use a terracotta pot, as it’s porous and dries out quickly. Good drainage is essential, so raise pots off the ground.

TIP: Place potted lavender near vegies as a valuable companion plant.

There are many different varieties of lavender available at nurseries and garden centres in a range of colours and sizes, so choose the plant that best suits your climate zone and landscape.

A new variety bred in Australia with large pink blooms in late winter to summer.

Ideal as a hedge in small gardens, it grows to 700mm high and wide, and needs no special care.

Growing to 1m high and wide this Italian variety has bright purple-tipped flowers from spring to autumn.

Good for a hot and dry area of the garden, as well as in pots and containers.

This early flowering variety has lilac-coloured blooms from autumn through winter and grows to about 700mm high and wide.

Plant it in entryways to add winter colour.

Choose a variety to suit your climate, adding lime to acidic soils to boost growth.

Lavender tolerates poor soil as long as it is very well drained.

POSITION in full sun, as shade causes the plant to grow towards the light.

PLANT seeds, container-grown plants or cuttings in spring.

FEED with liquid fertiliser just once or twice during the growing season.

WATER once or twice a week in hot weather after planting, as lavender is drought-tolerant once established.

MULCH year round to protect from the cold and reduce evaporation.

PRUNE the flowers in spring, cutting the plant back to keep it compact.

WATCH FOR grey mould in wet, humid conditions as fungal diseases can kill lavender.

Ensure good airflow around plants and eliminate weeds.

Remove and destroy badly infected plants.

Lavender releases a strong scent when brushed against, so it makes a very fragrant hedge. Mature plants can be bought and planted, but this is an expensive way to create hedging.

A more economical method is to buy small plants as tube stock or propagate your own plants in spring, planting them out about 300mm apart.

The effect might not be instant but within a year or two the hedge will be taking shape at a fraction of the cost.

Lavender is low maintenance but a hedge should be pruned twice a year to keep it compact and looking good.

Prune after flowering to remove spent blooms then give the plants a light trim in spring.

For the first prune, trim as much of the season’s green growth as possible without cutting into old wood.

Take softwood cuttings from non-flowering stems in spring to grow a potted feature plant, hedge or garden border.

Insert the cuttings in a pot and position in a warm shaded spot, transplanting into well-drained soil after six weeks.

TIP: Lavender won’t regenerate from old wood, so don’t prune too hard.

Pull side shoots 70 to 100mm long off the main stem with a thin strip of bark, or heel, still attached.

TIP: This is where the roots of the new plant will develop.

Strip the leaves from the base of the shoots by hand so the cuttings have a sufficient length of bare stem for clean insertion, then dip each cutting into hormone powder.