Collection: Lavenders

Whatever the question, Lavender is the answer.

A simple terracotta pot for the long hot summer we will surely have filled with Lavandula stoechas, the butterfly Lavender will help you feel like you’re on the Mediterranean allowing that momentary escape from the reality of everyday life.

A well-maintained lavender hedge can be a sight to behold, simply flanking the sides of a path or encircling a bed of herbs or flowers.

 Lavender, be it the Butterfly type referred to above or a variety of English Lavender Lavandula angustifolia needs work. The flower stems should be removed throughout the summer as they fade and go over removing the stem and cutting back a small bit into the foliage and give the complete plant a haircut, again removing the old flower stems and a few centimetres of foliage during September when the flowers are going beyond their best.

I could say ‘in September, after flowering’ as the text-books will say however Lavender doesn’t really stop flowering during the autumns, it just slows down a bit, stopping during the winter months. Cut back a bit more during March as temperatures are beginning to increase and growth starting once more.

The reason for all this cutting back and pruning is to ensure that your Lavandula, whichever species you opt for stays nice and bushy and doesn’t get woody and leggy.

Prevent the plant getting to this state in the first place and you can achieve that by regular pruning and ensuring the plant is in the correct place. Lavender is native to Mediterranean regions where you will see it growing in the poorest of soils, even sand. So remember this when you are introducing it into your garden.

Most gardening is common sense and with that in mind if you can recreate similar conditions then you should be successful. Of course we can’t guarantee full sun and temperatures in the thirties or even high twenties but what we can do is provide the plants with very open and well drained soil so that the roots aren’t sitting in water and the plant isn’t in soil that is too rich with nutrients encouraging too much green and in time woody growth.

No it wants plenty of grit and poor soil. Don’t be tempted to feed it, as it won’t need it.