How to Grow Lavender Plants

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By Amy Rose
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Grow Lavender Plants

Growing lavender is easy in well-drained, balanced loamy soil with lots of sunshine. The plant is loved the world over. Here’s how to successfully grow lavender in pots, in the ground, or in groups in a yard or field.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

Your choice of lavender plants from a nursery.
Weed barrier fabric
Shovel and spading fork
Soil pH testing kit
Possible soil amendments (see article)

Step 1

Make sure the area to be planted is very well-drained. Lavender is native to drier Mediterranean regions. Waterlogged or soggy soil will kill it. You can improve drainage for growing lavender by planting in raised beds, adding sand, and even better, adding compost which will sop up extra moisture while still allowing air pockets in the soil – imperative to the lavender plant’s survival.
Step 2

Check soil pH. To grow lavender, soil needs to be between 6.5 and 7.5. Garden stores sell pH testing kits.
Step 3

If growing lavender in the ground, remove weeds in the area, and cut a fabric weed barrier for the plant to about a three foot diameter. It’s very hard to weed mature lavender. And, lavender plants aren’t very good competitors. Again, it’s native to a rather scrubby natural habitat and never learned to compete against lush, aggressive growth.
Step 4

Plant and mulch. Dig a hole so the lavender plant can be planted at the same level it was in the pot. Jab small holes in the hole with a spading fork or other sharp, narrow garden tool for even better drainage. Insert the plant, fill in the hole, tamp down the soil, water lightly, and mulch with the weed barrier, holding it down with stakes supplied for that purpose, or heavy stones. If you want to add a natural mulch on top for better appearance, go ahead, just keep it at least 2 inches from the stem of the lavender plant.
Step 5

Space correctly. If planting multiple lavender plants for beautiful landscaping, space the same distance apart as the ultimate height will be. The nursery should provide the final height of your lavender plants. You can plant closer if you need a thick lavender hedge.
Step 6

If growing lavender in pots, you can repot into larger containers and new organic potting soil every year unless you start out in a large container.
Step 7

Go low on fertilizer. Lavender plants don’t need much. In the ground or in pots, use compost as the natural mulch over the weed barrier, or water with compost tea occasionally throughout the year. If the lavender plants seem green but won’t flower, add a little ground kelp to the compost or compost tea.
Step 8

Water carefully. Growing lavender means you’re growing a drought resistant plant. Do water regularly when there hasn’t been enough rain, but let it dry out a little before it’s next watering. Don’t go overboard. Lavender can die from lack of water.
Step 9

Prune every year. Right after bloom, prune lavender plants down to about 1/3 of the stem with gray leaves. This is more than what you’d cut for harvesting lavender for use in the summer.
Step 10

Harvest joyfully! When color just starts showing in the lavender plants' buds, cut the green part of the stems in the morning after dew has dried.