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Planting, Growing, and Caring for Lavender Flowers
Growing
How to Care for Lavender
- Water once or twice a week after planting until plants are established. Water mature plants every 2 to 3 weeks until buds form, then once or twice weekly until harvest. (Yellowing leaves are often a sign of overwatering.)
- In colder growing areas, plants may need extra winter protection. Cover the plants with a winter mulch of evergreen boughs or straw, insulating them from freezing winds and temperatures. Read more about winter care of lavender plants.
- Another option for cold areas is to grow lavender in a pot, keeping it outdoors in the summer and indoors in winter. While indoors, place the pot in a south-facing window with as much light as possible鈥攚ater sparingly, as the plant will be dormant at this time.
Pruning Lavender
In cooler climates: Prune established plants in spring when green leaves start to emerge from the base. Remove about one-third of the top to keep the plant from becoming leggy and bare at the base, but do not cut back into old wood, as it will not regrow.
In warm climates: All pruning can be carried out in autumn.
The flowering stems can be harvested while in bloom or snipped off after the flowers fade to keep the plant tidy.
Harvesting
How to Grow New Lavender from Cuttings
- Cut following the plant鈥檚 bloom. Choose side shoots for cuttings that have no buds.
- Cut very low near the root, getting several inches of stem. Gently scrape the skin off the bottom portion of the stem on one side with a knife. Remove foliage on the bottom 2 inches of the stem.
- Fill a small pot (4 inches or so) with potting mix. Optional: Dip each cutting in the rooting hormone first.
- Insert bare stem into potting soil. Firm the soil and water in. Cover the whole pot with clear plastic or a polythene bag to create humidity. Place pots in a warm, shaded area.
- Allow about 3 weeks for roots to appear. (If you tug gently, the root shouldn鈥檛 move.) Then, remove the bag.
- Water when soil is dry an inch down; feed with 1/4-strength liquid plant fertilizer once a week.
- After a few weeks, transplant it into a larger pot.
Harvesting Lavender Flowers
Lavender is a wonderful herb for drying. Here鈥檚 how to harvest it:
- Harvest in the morning hours when the oils are the most concentrated.
- Snip off stems when about half of the flower buds have opened, cutting the stems as long as possible.
- Gather them into bundles and secure them with rubber bands.
- Dry the bundles of lavender by hanging them in a sheltered, cool, dark place with good air circulation.
- After a few weeks, the flowers will have dried fully and can be shaken gently from the stems into a lidded jar. Store the flowers in a cool, dark place.
Use your dried lavender to make lavender sachets鈥攁 lovely gift. Lavender sachets can help to keep your sheets or towels smelling sweet, repel moths and insects, and even promote a restful night鈥檚 sleep.
Storing Lavender
Store lavender flowers in a lidded jar somewhere cool and dark, or pop them straight into a sachet to keep towels, sheets, or clothes smelling sweet and to repel moths. If you suffer from insomnia, try inserting the sachets into a pillow so the calming scent can help you drift off to a restful slumber.
Recipes
Cooking Notes
Although edible, lavender should be used sparingly in recipes. The herb has a lovely perfumed flavor, but it can be too strong or bitter if overused.
The herb is often used in herbes de Provence mixes, and leaves can be chopped and added sparingly to some sauces, shortbread biscuits and baked goods, ice cream, teas, and lemonade.
See our recipe for lavender scones and honey-lavender syrup, as well as a recipe for making your own lavender-herb tea.
Catherine Boeckmann
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I purchased three lavender plants last year and they grew beautifully... this spring my husband decided to "trim" them and cut two of them back to the ground before I stopped him... Do you think they will grow back or should I just get rid of them...
Generally, it’s not recommended to cut lavender’s woody stems back too much, as it can cause damage. However, there’s always a chance your plants may recover. We would suggest waiting to see if there are any signs of life in the next month or so, being sure to not let the plant dry out too much nor get overwatered. If nothing appears after that length of time, then they are likely dead, unfortunately.
Hello, i was wondering about growing lavender. i have tried growing it the last 3 years, but have only succeeded in getting the plants a couple inches high before they stop growing, and have never produced buds. Have any advice? thanks!
(i live in alaska)
We’re not sure where you live in Alaska, however, lavender is a plant that naturally loves hot, sunny, dry climates and usually grows in zones 5 to 9 so first check the zone.
If you do grow lavender, make sure that you keep it dry. For example, piles of wet leaves from winter will hold in moisture which causes die back.
I have superblue Lavender in pots .. they have grown wonderful all summer and do not want to kill over the winter
How do i prep for winter ... The pots are too big to bury for the winter
thank you
Kim
English lavenders (such as the 鈥楽uperBlue鈥 variety) are generally winter hardy up to Zone 5鈥攂ut that’s not to say that they can’t survive in colder areas if provided adequate protection. Since you cannot bury the pots, could you move them to a sheltered location such as a garden shed or garage? You’ll need to keep them insulated from the cold, since the roots won’t get the natural protection of the ground soil. Mulch over top of the plants with 3 to 4 inches of straw. Give them some water before you mulch and store them. You’ll want to make sure that they don’t dry out completely, but also that they don’t get too wet throughout the winter.
Even with all this, they may not survive the cold… Perhaps you could repot them in smaller pots and bring them inside instead?
Do I have to plant this tree outside or can I just keep it in its planter . This way I can move it around . How tall do they get ,Thank you Sharon
I live in zone 6b near Boston. I planted two small (maybe 4") lavenders in pots six weeks ago--one in plastic and one in a fabric grow bag. They came from a greenhouse at a good local nursery, but I put them in full sun gradually after I repotted them. The plants have room to grow in their pots. I amended the potting mix with coarse sand and compost, but no fertilizer because I was told not to for lavender. I top dressed with pea gravel. I've been deathly afraid of over watering and have been giving them small amounts of water when they were dry several inches down and the moisture meter said they were dry. I planted hidcote and munstead. Some of the larger leaves on the hidcote turned yellow with crispy browntips. The roots are fine. There's no fungus or rot and there's new growth near the crown. It's been boiling hot and very sunny here (90+). The soil pH is 7 and I don't think there's excessive nitrogen in the soil, which I read can also cause yellow leaves. I've been trying to figure this out for weeks, but everyone's advice is either incomplete or contradictory.
I thought they looked unhappy after heavy rain so I bring them inside and put them under a grow light if heavy rains are forecasted. I'm sorry to go into so much detail, but I've been going a bit mad trying to figure this out.
Do you think the yellow leaves and crunchy brown tips could be from the shallow watering and letting the soil get very dry? Yesterday I switched to deep watering until the water runs out the bottom and then wait under the top two inches are dry. They don't look thrilled today, slightly more yellow. Is there anything else I should/shouldn't do? Will they just be a little confused until I get them on a better regime of deep waterings and drying out, but not completely dry?
Thank you for reading this novella and any help you can give me will be greatly appreciated.
I planted one lavender plant weeks ago on my balcony where I grow many potted plants. I think it is a variety of english lavender. I see no sign of blooms or buds. What gives? Thanks.
Do deer avoid lavender plants?
