There are very good reasons why growing lavender has been so popular with generations of gardeners and farmers. Perhaps the most important reason is that it has a beautiful, fragrant smell. When it flowers we are all immediately reminded of summer, and in many places around the world flowering lavender is cause for celebration. But as well as being admired for its beauty it also has a long history as a healing and restorative plant.
Lavender originates from the mountainous zones of the Mediterranean, but it now flourishes throughout southern Europe, Australia, and the United States. Like another well-known herb, rosemary, it's a heavily branched short shrub that grows to a height of between 2 and 3 feet. For this reason it's an excellent herb for growing as an aromatic garden hedge. In this article I'll explain how you can grow a lavender hedge and how to put its flowers to use in many areas around your home.
To help you understand how easy and straightforward it is to grow a lavender hedge I have structured my article as six short paragraphs:
- Where to plant your lavender hedge
- What sort of lavender to plant
- Buying or growing your lavender?
- How to plant your lavender hedge
- Looking after your lavender
- Putting your lavender to healthy uses
Where to Plant Your lavender hedge
When you are looking for a site to plant your lavender hedge, bear in mind that lavender loves a sunny location and light, dry, well drained alkaline (ph 7.5 to 8) soil. If you plant lavender in moist and shady conditions it won't flourish and becomes prone to fungus.
When you choose a site for your hedge also bear in mind that lavender is excellent at repelling insects (with the exception of bees and butterflies which it attracts). This makes it a good companion plant for orchards and other areas of your garden where insects such as flies and mosquitoes are a nuisance.
What Sort of lavender to Plant
Don't just buy the first lavender you see in your garden center or shop. There are many types of lavender plants available, but to keep things simple I'll introduce you to just two of them, both of which are suitable for growing a lavender hedge.
Lavandula stoechas (commonly called French lavender) has short, fat spikes of dark purple flowers topped with butterfly wing bracts (small leaves attached to a flower)
Lavendula augustifolia (commonly called English lavender) which has small purple flowers.
French lavender will grow a little taller than English lavender (up to 3ft instead of 2ft), but English lavender has a stronger smell which is good if you intend to harvest the flowers to make potpourri and aromatic oils.
Buying or Growing Your lavender
I don't recommend trying to grow your lavender from seed because seeds frequently don't produce plants that are true to type. Either buy small plants that are ready for transplanting or take your own cuttings from another plant. If you decide to take cuttings, take 2 inch stems from the tips of the lavender in mid to late summer. Trim off the upper and lower leaves of these stems and then plant them in a mixture of 2/3 course sand and 1/3 peat moss. Keep the soil on the dry side until the roots have formed and shoots appear, and then replant the young plants in pots ready for planting out.
How to Plant Your lavender hedge
Plant your lavender hedge in either the spring or the fall. Make a trench about 16 inches deep and 18 inches wide, and fill this up with a mix of potting compost and coarse sand. Plant your young lavender plants about 2 feet apart (which will to allow for growth). If you plant in the spring, remove any blooms to force the energy into root growth. If you plant in the fall all the plant's energy will be directed into growing its roots.
Looking After Your lavender
Keep your plants watered, even during the winter, although in the winter months the plants are largely dormant, and you'll see no new growth until mid-May. Feed your lavender plants with a suitable fertilizer in early spring and again in mid-summer.
Lavender tends to get woody and needs to be maintained by pruning. Do this in March/Early April before new shoots have formed and at the end of the season when flowering has finished. It's a good idea to shape your lavender hedge. I prune mine to create a circular bush in the spring, and aim to take off about 1/3 of its height when I carry out a major prune at the end of the summer.
Pruning your lavender plants at the beginning and end of the season will encourage healthy growth and lots of flowers. I also dry my pruned cuttings and use them as kindling wood during the winter. They release a wonderful scent as they burn.
You will also probably want to cut lavender flowers during the growing season to use in the home in some of the ways I have described in the final part of my article. Flowers can be cut from the early spring before they open and during the summer.
Although lavender is a perennial herb your hedge will start to get quite woody after a few years depending on growing conditions. I recommend that when the hedge begins to look a bit ragged you take lots of cuttings and replant it either at the end of the season or in the spring.
Putting Your lavender to Healthy Uses
Whilst growing lavender in your garden will bring endless pleasure, it also has many other uses:
Oil of lavender:
Make this by immersing your lavender flowers in neutral oil. The aromatic oil has antiseptic and anti-inflammatory properties. In fact it was used in hospitals during WWI to disinfect floors and walls. This oil can also be used as a fragrance for bath products.
Dried lavender flowers:
These are used to perfume linen. The dried flowers have a powerful, aromatic odor which repels moths, flies and mosquitoes
Culinary lavender:
Use fresh or dried flowers to flavor sugars jellies, ice-cream and cheeses. you can also crystallize flowers and use as decorations on cakes.
In conclusion I hope I have been able to show you that creating a lavender hedge isn't difficult. If you follow the instructions I have provided you will end up with a healthy, strong, attractive hedge. It might take a couple of years to really establish itself, but whilst this is happening you can harvest and preserve the flowers so you can enjoy the results of your hard work throughout the winter months.
This article by Adam Gilpin has been produced to encourage more people to create their own herb gardens and discover the 100's of different ways in which herbs such as lavender can be used in the garden and around the house.
Lavender originates from the mountainous zones of the Mediterranean, but it now flourishes throughout southern Europe, Australia, and the United States. Like another well-known herb, rosemary, it's a heavily branched short shrub that grows to a height of between 2 and 3 feet. For this reason it's an excellent herb for growing as an aromatic garden hedge. In this article I'll explain how you can grow a lavender hedge and how to put its flowers to use in many areas around your home.
To help you understand how easy and straightforward it is to grow a lavender hedge I have structured my article as six short paragraphs:
- Where to plant your lavender hedge
- What sort of lavender to plant
- Buying or growing your lavender?
- How to plant your lavender hedge
- Looking after your lavender
- Putting your lavender to healthy uses
Where to Plant Your lavender hedge
When you are looking for a site to plant your lavender hedge, bear in mind that lavender loves a sunny location and light, dry, well drained alkaline (ph 7.5 to 8) soil. If you plant lavender in moist and shady conditions it won't flourish and becomes prone to fungus.
When you choose a site for your hedge also bear in mind that lavender is excellent at repelling insects (with the exception of bees and butterflies which it attracts). This makes it a good companion plant for orchards and other areas of your garden where insects such as flies and mosquitoes are a nuisance.
What Sort of lavender to Plant
Don't just buy the first lavender you see in your garden center or shop. There are many types of lavender plants available, but to keep things simple I'll introduce you to just two of them, both of which are suitable for growing a lavender hedge.
Lavandula stoechas (commonly called French lavender) has short, fat spikes of dark purple flowers topped with butterfly wing bracts (small leaves attached to a flower)
Lavendula augustifolia (commonly called English lavender) which has small purple flowers.
French lavender will grow a little taller than English lavender (up to 3ft instead of 2ft), but English lavender has a stronger smell which is good if you intend to harvest the flowers to make potpourri and aromatic oils.
Buying or Growing Your lavender
I don't recommend trying to grow your lavender from seed because seeds frequently don't produce plants that are true to type. Either buy small plants that are ready for transplanting or take your own cuttings from another plant. If you decide to take cuttings, take 2 inch stems from the tips of the lavender in mid to late summer. Trim off the upper and lower leaves of these stems and then plant them in a mixture of 2/3 course sand and 1/3 peat moss. Keep the soil on the dry side until the roots have formed and shoots appear, and then replant the young plants in pots ready for planting out.
How to Plant Your lavender hedge
Plant your lavender hedge in either the spring or the fall. Make a trench about 16 inches deep and 18 inches wide, and fill this up with a mix of potting compost and coarse sand. Plant your young lavender plants about 2 feet apart (which will to allow for growth). If you plant in the spring, remove any blooms to force the energy into root growth. If you plant in the fall all the plant's energy will be directed into growing its roots.
Looking After Your lavender
Keep your plants watered, even during the winter, although in the winter months the plants are largely dormant, and you'll see no new growth until mid-May. Feed your lavender plants with a suitable fertilizer in early spring and again in mid-summer.
Lavender tends to get woody and needs to be maintained by pruning. Do this in March/Early April before new shoots have formed and at the end of the season when flowering has finished. It's a good idea to shape your lavender hedge. I prune mine to create a circular bush in the spring, and aim to take off about 1/3 of its height when I carry out a major prune at the end of the summer.
Pruning your lavender plants at the beginning and end of the season will encourage healthy growth and lots of flowers. I also dry my pruned cuttings and use them as kindling wood during the winter. They release a wonderful scent as they burn.
You will also probably want to cut lavender flowers during the growing season to use in the home in some of the ways I have described in the final part of my article. Flowers can be cut from the early spring before they open and during the summer.
Although lavender is a perennial herb your hedge will start to get quite woody after a few years depending on growing conditions. I recommend that when the hedge begins to look a bit ragged you take lots of cuttings and replant it either at the end of the season or in the spring.
Putting Your lavender to Healthy Uses
Whilst growing lavender in your garden will bring endless pleasure, it also has many other uses:
Oil of lavender:
Make this by immersing your lavender flowers in neutral oil. The aromatic oil has antiseptic and anti-inflammatory properties. In fact it was used in hospitals during WWI to disinfect floors and walls. This oil can also be used as a fragrance for bath products.
Dried lavender flowers:
These are used to perfume linen. The dried flowers have a powerful, aromatic odor which repels moths, flies and mosquitoes
Culinary lavender:
Use fresh or dried flowers to flavor sugars jellies, ice-cream and cheeses. you can also crystallize flowers and use as decorations on cakes.
In conclusion I hope I have been able to show you that creating a lavender hedge isn't difficult. If you follow the instructions I have provided you will end up with a healthy, strong, attractive hedge. It might take a couple of years to really establish itself, but whilst this is happening you can harvest and preserve the flowers so you can enjoy the results of your hard work throughout the winter months.
This article by Adam Gilpin has been produced to encourage more people to create their own herb gardens and discover the 100's of different ways in which herbs such as lavender can be used in the garden and around the house.
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