Gardening Plants & Flowers Perennials

How to Grow Lavender: Planting and Care

Bring Fresh Aromas to Your Garden

Up Close view of lavender in bloom

The Spruce / Adrienne Legault 

Lavender (Lavendula spp.) is a well-known and fragrant perennial plant that will come back every year with gray-green foliage, upright flower spikes, and a compact shrub form. Planting lavender is best in the spring after the risk of frost has passed and the soil has warmed up. It will grow at a moderate pace, often adding a few inches to its size each year. Lavender can be toxic to pets like dogs and cats.

Click Play to Learn How to Care for Lavender Plants

Common Name Lavender
Botanical Name Lavandula spp.
Family Lamiaceae
Plant Type Herbaceous perennial
Mature Size 2–3 ft. tall, 2–4 ft. wide
Sun Exposure Full sun
Soil Type Dry, well-draining
Soil pH Alkaline
Bloom Time Summer
Flower Color Purple
Hardiness Zones 5a–9a, USDA
Native Areas Europe
Toxicity Toxic to dogs, toxic to cats

How to Plant Lavender

  • Plant lavender in the ground in your sunniest spots. Lavender plants will tolerate many growing conditions, but they grow best in warm, well-draining soil, and full sun.
  • Be sure to plant lavender in the spring—around April or May—when the soil warms up and there is no chance of frost.
  • In the garden, lavender makes an excellent companion plant for almost anything from roses to cabbage. It is one of those aromatic, gray herbs that deer avoid, making it a great choice to plant lavender as a decoy in your beds.
  • Lavender-growing USDA zones include 5a through 9a, but this is not a plant that is dependable enough to use as a hedge. Realistically, you can expect plants to do well when the weather cooperates, but be prepared to experience the occasional loss of a plant or two after a severe winter or a wet, humid summer.
  • Keep starting new plants to ensure you have a bountiful harvest for years to come.

Tips

Lavender has a large, spreading root system. However, do not plant lavender in shady spots in your garden where they will be overshadowed by trees or other large plants. Lavender grows best in full sun.

Lavender Care

As with most plants, your success in growing lavender will depend both on what kind of growing conditions you provide and which varieties you select to grow. Even if you do everything right and your lavender plants appear happy, the genus is generally not long-lived and most lavender plants begin to decline in 10 years or less.

A bee on lavender flowers.

The Spruce / Adrienne Legault 

Inverewe Garden, Poolewe, climbing roses, Scotland
Neil Holmes / Getty Images
Close-up image of a stone garden planter or container with scented lavender flowers in the summer sunshine
Jacky Parker Photography / Getty Images
Hanging drying bundles of lavender
thepurpledoor / Getty Images

Light

Lavender plants grown in full sunlight is the best way to guarantee a lot of buds and big, full bushes.

Soil

Lean soil (soil without a lot of organic matter mixed in) will encourage a higher concentration of oils (and good smells), so go easy on the organic matter and fertilizer. Lavender plants prefer well-drained soil that is on the drier side, so if you're using a traditional potting mix, be sure to add in some sand for drainage. An alkaline or especially chalky soil will enhance your lavender's fragrance, while any pH below about 6.5 will likely cause lavender plants to be very short-lived.

Water

Lavender is a resilient plant that is extremely drought-tolerant once established. When first starting your lavender plants, keep them regularly watered during their first growing season. After that, they can handle extended periods of drought—in fact, too much water can lead to fungal disease and root rot.

Temperature and Humidity

Lavender can withstand a range of temperatures, and it's usually dampness more than the cold that's responsible for killing lavender plants. Dampness can come in the form of wet roots during the winter months or high humidity in the summer. If humidity is a problem, make sure you have plenty of space between your plants for airflow, and always plant your bushes in a sunny location.

Protect lavender plants from harsh winter winds by planting them next to a stone or brick wall to provide additional heat and protection. If you live in an area where the ground routinely freezes and thaws throughout the winter, your lavender plants will benefit from a layer of mulch applied after the ground initially freezes to protect the roots.

Fertilizer

It's a good idea to add a handful of compost into the hole when you are first starting lavender plants. Beyond that, feeding is not needed with these plants and can detract from the overall potency of your lavender.

Types of Lavender

There are many varieties of lavender, each boasting benefits and perks. Some of the most popular include:

  • English Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia): A varietal that's available in several cultivars, including: 'Munstead,' an old-fashioned standard with blue-purple flowers; 'Hidcote,' a version favored for its dark purple flowers; 'Jean Davis,' a unique blend that produces pale pink flower spikes.
  • Lavandin (Lavandula x intermedia): A varietal with several cultivars including: 'Provence,' which is particularly popular for drying; 'Grosso,' a highly disease-resistant and fragrant standard.
  • Fringed lavender(Lavandula dentata): A bushy, spreading shrub varietal that produces dense purple-blue flower spikes that are only mildly fragrant.
  • (Lavandula stoechas) French lavender: A beautiful Mediterranean varietal that is compact and bushy with fragrant, dark purple flowers.

Pruning

Although lavender plants get regularly pruned simply by harvesting the flowers, a bit of spring pruning is recommended to keep your plant well-shaped and to encourage new growth. Taller lavender varieties can be cut back by approximately one-third of their height, while lower-growing varieties can either be pruned back by a couple of inches or cut down to new growth.

If you live in an area where lavender suffers winter die-back, don't prune your plants until you see new green growth at the base of the plant. If you disturb the plants too soon in the season, they're unlikely to develop new growth.

Watch Now: How to Prune Lavender Plants

Harvesting Lavender

A major reason lavender is so prized is that its flowers keep their fragrance once dried. For best drying results, harvest the flowers as the buds first begin to open. Hang them in small bunches upside-down in a warm spot with good air circulation until dried.

Aside from being beautiful and aromatic, lavender flowers are also edible. They can be used raw in salads, added to soups and stews, used as a seasoning, baked into cookies, and brewed into tea. Use sparingly; a little lavender flavor goes a long way.

Benefits and Uses of Lavender

There are numerous ways to use lavender once you harvest it, ranging from aesthetic to practical. Arrange the stems in a vase or pitcher to display as a summer kitchen table centerpiece, or tuck a petite bouquet into a mason jar or other small vessel to decorate your bedroom or bathroom. You can even purchase a wreath hoop and some floral wire to create a dried lavender wreath for your front door. 

Try stripping the lavender buds off of the stems and tucking them into satchels—you can then place the bags in your dresser drawers for a fresh, relaxing scent each time you open them. You can also take advantage of lavender’s natural calming properties by making a lavender oil to dab on your wrists whenever you need a moment of meditation: just crush the flowers slightly and place them in a jar with the oil of your choice, leaving an inch or two of space. Screw on the lid and let the jar sit in a sunny area of your home for two days.

Once it’s ready to use, let the soothing smell lift your mood. You can also make a lavender-infused simple syrup to shake up with cocktails. 

Regardless of how you choose to use your lavender, be sure to store it in an airtight container in a cool, dry spot that is not prone to heat or humidity. This will help maintain the plant’s scent as well as fend off mold and rot.

Propagating Lavender

Lavender plants are best propagated by either softwood cuttings (the soft, flexible tips of shoots) or hardwood cuttings (segments of shoots with woody stems). Softwood cuttings are available in the spring; hardwood cuttings are available in the fall. Both processes can be done relatively the same—here's how:

  1. Use a sterilized, sharp knife to cut a 3-inch segment of a healthy shoot from the plant. Hardwood cuttings should be severed just below a bump that identifies a leaf node. Remove the leaves from the bottom 2 inches of the stem and scrape off the skin from the bottom of the stem along one side.
  2. Fill a small pot with a seed-starting mix that has been moistened with a bit of water.
  3. Dip the stripped side of the cutting in rooting hormone. Bury it into the seed-starting mix.
  4. Cover the pot with plastic and place somewhere warm with ample filtered light. Softwood cuttings take two to four weeks to begin rooting; hardwood cuttings take a bit longer.
  5. When you've noticed that roots are established, remove the plastic covering and place the pot back in a sunny location.
  6. Feed the plant once a week with a liquid plant fertilizer diluted to 25 percent strength.
  7. After two or three weeks, the plant can be transplanted outdoors or into a larger pot with standard potting soil—commercial potting soil has enough nutrients to nourish the plant without any more feeding.

Potting and Repotting Lavender

Where outdoor planting is not practical, growing lavender in a ceramic, clay, or terra-cotta pot and moving it around to follow the sun or even bringing it indoors for the winter, will be most efficient. Lavender prefers to grow in a tight space. A pot that can accommodate the root ball with a couple of inches to spare is a good choice; a pot that is too large will encourage excessive dampness.

Ensure that your container has plenty of holes at its base for drainage—root rot is one of the few problems experienced by lavender plants. Additionally, you can plant lavender in a clay or terracotta pot to help wick moisture away from the soil and keep it from getting too wet. Use a loose, soilless mix for planting, and remember that container-grown lavender will require more water than garden-grown plants. A good rule of thumb is to water when the soil (not the plant) appears dry, watering at the base of the plant to limit dampness on the foliage.

Common Pests & Plant Diseases

Lavender plants are not afflicted by many diseases. They may develop phytophthora, which is a soil-borne fungal disease that causes root and stem rot. Lavender can also succumb to septoria leaf spot, which is caused by a fungus and is also commonly found on tomato plants.

However, many common pests are attracted to lavender, including whiteflies, spider mites, leafhoppers, and spittlebugs (which do little damage). Water spray, insecticidal soaps, and neem oil can be helpful to eliminate pests. The four-lined plant bug (FLPB) is another pest that can be found sucking on lavender plant leaves and can be controlled by pesticides.

How to Get Lavender to Bloom

When you're growing a plant as prized for its blooms as lavender, try to do all you can to get it to flower profusely. If you're having a difficult time getting your lavender plants to bloom, there are a few issues that could be to blame.

Soil that is too fertile can result in fewer blooms. Highly fertile soil promotes a lot of green growth at the expense of bud production. You can either relocate your plants or amend the soil with sand or gravel to aerate it and make it less nutrient-dense.

You should also make sure that your lavender plants are getting at least six to eight hours of sunlight daily, which will result in the most productive blooming. If your plant isn't getting that much light in its current location, you can cut back nearby foliage that may be overshadowing it, or replant your lavender in containers so you can move them around and "chase" the light.

Lastly, pruning your plant each spring—even if the size is suitable for your space—can result in more frequent (and fuller) flowers when your lavender blooms. The reason: Lavender sets buds on new growth, so stimulating that process is a helpful signal to the plant that it should get growing.

Common Problems With Lavender

Lavender plants are fairly trouble-free, but problems can occur. Here are common issues you may encounter when growing lavender indoors or outdoors.

Leaves Turning Yellow

Leaves turn yellow if the soil is too wet. If the lower leaves are yellow, that definitely means you are overwatering the plant. Many lavender plants will perish if their soil gets too wet over the winter months.

Plant Smells Bad

You have probably overwatered your lavender plant. The plant may have root rot. If you have a potted lavender plant that you think has root rot, prune the dead or affected roots with a sharp and sterilized cutting tool and repot the plant to see if it's salvageable.

Drooping Leaves

You have probably underwatered your lavender plant. In addition, the soil will feel parched.

Soil Is Always Wet

You have overwatered your lavender plant. See if you can remove any root rot and replant the lavender in new soil.

FAQ
  • How long can lavender plants live?

    Lavender plants can live upwards of 10 years, but they will experience a decrease in quality and growth as time goes on. Maintain your collection through propagation so you can get rid of older plants.

  • Can you grow lavender indoors?

    It's possible, but the only issue you'll probably have is not giving your plant enough light. Lavender loves warmth and you will need to give your lavender plant as much direct sunlight as you possibly can. Use a quick-drying clay pot with well-draining soil and plenty of drainage holes. It's best to plant a compact plant indoors, like French lavender.

  • Does lavender come back every year?

    Lavender does come back every year if it is cared for correctly, as it is a perennial plant.

  • Do lavender plants bloom all summer?

    Lavender can bloom anytime from early spring until late summer, though some plants might maintain their blooming flowers from spring through the end of summer.

  • Do lavender plants spread?

    While lavender plants have large root networks that do spread underground, the plants themselves prefer to grow in smaller spots.

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  1. Lavender. ASPCA.

  2. Fourlined Plant Bugs. University of Minnesota Extension.