Lavender is a favorite herb of many gardeners because of its classic fragrance. It’s also easy to grow from seed, even if you’ve never planted anything before, and it will spread quickly once you have some established. You can use Lavender to make your DIY living wreath for the holidays.
Some lavender Garden Ideas include Borders for walkways and garden beds, center pieces for garden pots, and incorporate it into vegetables to add a bit of color. Lavender can be grown as a fragrant decoration, and the fragrant flowers attract insects that eat harmful pests and keep away other bugs. Lavender can also be used as dried bouquets; this keeps the fragrant smell longer than fresh bouquets. You can choose to grow two types of Lavender, English, and French. Other than this distinction, the one difference between these two species is their scent. Although both are used in cooking, medicine, and beauty products, the English Lavender has a much stronger fragrance than the French variety.
Wondering how to preserve your lavender? Check out our Ways to Preserve Herbs From Your Garden post!
What looks good with Lavender in the garden?
Lavender is a perennial where almost everything looks good with it. Any ground cover will go well with lavender. I recommend petunias, ground juniper, Creeping Phlox ,Creeping Thyme and Deadnettle.
Lavenders are shrubs or herbaceous perennials that grow 1-2 feet in height. They have slender, square-shaped branches with narrow, linear leaves. The flowers are greyish to purplish and arranged in dense clusters on the tips of the stems. Flowering throughout the summer months.
Lavender thrives when planted along borders or in rock gardens, flowerbeds, pots, vegetable gardens, herb gardens, knot gardens, and even containers. It also looks lovely cascading over walls. We wrote more about container gardening in this post.
You can grow Lavender from seed or by taking cuttings or division of existing plants. When planting Lavender, look for an area that gets lots of sun for at least 6 hours a day. Lavenders don’t tolerate wet soils well, so make sure you plant them in well-drained soil. Once established, they need little water and do best with only moderate watering during the summer months.
Lavenders are also deer resistant, so they make wonderful plants along the borders, which you can easily protect with Lavender growing nearby. Growing lavender plants is easy because they will typically recover quickly with minimal intervention, even if they get stressed or damaged due to diseases or pests.
Lavenders are a favorite with bees and butterflies, and some birds may eat the seeds, especially if not covered by mulch or soil. Lavenders also serve as a good cut flower. One of the most popular lavender varieties for home gardens is ‘Munstead. ‘ It grows to about 1-2 feet tall and has purple flowers from early summer through fall.
Lavender has many culinary uses, such as drying lavender flowers in sachets which you can put in dresser drawers to keep them smelling fresh or use as potpourri. You can also dry lavender leaves and use them in various baking recipes, such as lavender cookies. Mix it with sugar and use the mixture to top cakes, bread, muffins or even ice cream. Another favorite is to make a lavender syrup by steeping fresh or dried flowers in boiling water, which you then mix with sugar and lemon juice for a refreshing iced tea.
Lavenders are also used in producing perfumes, aromatherapy products, bath salts, eye pillows, massage oils, skin creams, and potpourris. Lavenders have been shown to have antibacterial properties that may one day lead to medical uses of the plant. However, there is no conclusive evidence as yet as to the effectiveness of Lavender in the treatment of any particular medical condition.
What Shouldn’t Be Planted Near Lavender?
Some plants should never be planted near lavenders because they emit toxins that prevent the growth of other nearby plants. One main example is the wormwood plant, also known as mugwort. This plant emits a toxin called thujone.
Another plant that should never be planted around lavenders includes chamomile. This particular plant emits a toxin called Anthemis cotula that prevents the germination and growth of many different types of plants, including alfalfa and clover. There are different theories regarding how this works, but chamomile emits a toxin that makes other plants grow poorly.
However, not all plants are bad to have near lavenders. Some good companion plants for Lavender include thyme which produce flowers that attract bees. Learn more about attracting this beneficial insect to your yard in this post. Lavender also grows well with rosemary, parsley, sage, marjoram, peppermint, and basil. These companion plants will not prevent the growth of Lavender but will bet benefits by attracting bugs to help pollinate it.
How long does lavender take to establish?
Lavender takes three to five years before it becomes established, and while some people can’t wait that long, the impatient might try some tricks such as feeding it fertilizer at planting time or mulching heavily around the plants. It also helps to add a nitrogen-rich fertilizer when new shoots emerge fairly early in the spring; at this point, they are easy targets for weed grasses and other undesirables.
How quickly does lavender spread?
Many people are curious about the rate at which Lavender can spread its seeds. While some see this plant as invasive, others enjoy the color and smell that it provides. Knowing how fast germination is likely to happen can help you manage or maintain your Lavender, whether you want it to spread or not. Find out more below.
Is lavender invasive?
Lavender is considered an invasive species in certain habitats because it tends to take over any area where there isn’t already competition once it appears. This occurs due to its rapid growth habit, and birds unintentionally spread their seeds. If planted in areas where there aren’t other plants competing, Lavender has a good chance of growing and thriving.
Does Lavender spread quickly?
Lavender can take over an area if there isn’t already a competing plant. The seeds are small, and it only takes a few of them in any given spot for the plant to appear. This means that once you have one lavender plant, having more than one elsewhere in your garden is quite easy. Although this can be useful in some areas where another type of flower might not grow, having too much, Lavender can become problematic because it crowds out other flowers.
Age of the plant when seeding takes place
It is typical for lavender plants to begin releasing seeds one year after sprouting. This means that if you grow a lavender plant from seed, you can expect more of that same variety of flowers once more of the plants reach their first anniversary. While many people think this will increase crowding issues, remember that flowers release these seeds at different times of the growing season. If only every other year, birds and other creatures may drop off enough seeds for them all to take root and grow without overcrowding each other.
Is it possible for lavender seeds to become spread further by the wind?
If conditions are right where you are growing Lavender, there is some chance that birds or other animals may carry these seeds into new areas if they end up ingesting some. While this does happen with many types of wildflowers, it doesn’t necessarily mean that something like this will impact your flower garden. Keep in mind that if you want to make it less likely for these seeds to spread further, try not to grow Lavender in a spot where visiting creatures may end up dropping them off. Additionally, some varieties of this flower aren’t considered invasive and typically don’t produce as many seeds.
How does sunlight affect when Lavender begins growing?
In general, lavender flowers tend to start blooming during the springtime. This is because they require certain temperatures (around 55-60 degrees Fahrenheit) before they can begin opening their buds. If your area experiences colder or hotter weather than this plant prefers, it will also impact when it eventually blooms. Additionally, sunlight affects how well lavender can survive. It needs at least six hours of exposure to the sun each day to thrive, but it shouldn’t be located underneath direct sunlight either. Are you growing Lavender where it can receive ample amounts of light?
How does watering affect when Lavender begins growing?
If you are growing Lavender in an area that receives plenty of rainfall or regularly water your plants, this shouldn’t impact how quickly they spread. However, if your flowers aren’t receiving enough exposure to water or rainfall is limited to certain months only, not maintaining a moist environment may potentially hurt these plants’ chances of survival. If the soil constantly stays dry for too long, there is a chance that seeds won’t germinate, or roots won’t be able to extend as far down into the ground. It’s also worth noting that if you attempt to grow Lavender in an area where water is scarce, it will likely make them more vulnerable to parasites and other issues associated with having too little moisture.
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