Mediterranean shrub
How to grow lavender
Lavandula angustifolia
Lavender wants full sun and poor, sharply drained soil, and in the UK it is best planted in April or May so it roots before winter. English lavender is fully hardy; French lavender needs shelter. Success comes down to two things: drainage, because wet winter soil kills more plants than cold, and a trim every year straight after flowering that never cuts into bare wood. It needs no fertiliser.
- Hardiness
- Fully hardy (L. stoechas half-hardy)
- Position
- Full sun
- Soil
- Sharp-draining, gritty, lean; tolerates lime
- Ideal pH
- 6.5 to 8.0
- Water
- Low
- Feeding
- Light feeder
Sowing and planting lavender
WhenPlant Apr to May; flowers Jun to Aug; trim late Aug
Starting off
Plant pot-grown plants Apr to May so roots establish before winter. Semi-ripe cuttings 8 to 10 cm long taken Jul to Aug, stripped of lower leaves, in gritty compost at 18 °C without a cover root in 4 to 6 weeks; the standard method. Seed sown Feb to Mar at 18 to 21 °C germinates in 14 to 21 days but gives variable plants.
Spacing and planting
Plant 30 to 45 cm apart for a hedge of L. angustifolia 'Hidcote' or 'Munstead', 60 to 90 cm for specimen L. × intermedia, at pot depth with grit under and around the root ball. Fine in a 30 cm terracotta pot of loam-based compost with a third grit.
Varieties worth growing
- L. angustifolia 'Hidcote'
- Deep violet flowers on a compact, silvery plant about 50 cm tall. The standard choice for a low hedge or path edging.
- L. angustifolia 'Munstead'
- Paler lilac-blue, a little earlier and looser than 'Hidcote', and tolerant of cold gardens.
- L. angustifolia 'Imperial Gem'
- Like a slightly more vigorous 'Hidcote' with dark purple spikes. Holds its shape well and is good for drying.
- L. × intermedia 'Grosso'
- A lavandin: a big plant to 90 cm with long stems and a strong, camphor-rich scent. Flowers in July and August, later than English lavender, and is the one for bunches and sachets.
- L. stoechas 'Anouk'
- French lavender with purple tufted ears on each flower head, in bloom from May. Only for a sheltered, well-drained spot or a pot that can be moved under cover.
Lavender month by month
Timings are for central England. Allow two weeks later in the north and on cold, heavy soil.
- January
Nothing to do.
- February
Nothing to do. Check pots are raised on feet and draining.
- March
Optional light tidy of English lavender, into leafy growth only. Clear dead leaves from the centre of plants.
- April
Plant, with grit under and around the root ball on anything but light soil.
- May
Plant. Water new plants weekly in dry spells for the first summer only. French lavender starts to flower.
- June
English lavender comes into flower. Trim French lavender lightly after its first flush.
- July
Cut stems for drying when the lowest flowers on the spike have just opened. Take semi-ripe cuttings.
- August
Trim English lavender in late August as the flowers fade: stalks plus 2 to 3 cm of leafy growth. Take cuttings.
- September
Finish trimming lavandins such as 'Grosso' by mid month. Pot up rooted cuttings.
- October
Nothing to do. Do not prune now: the plant needs its regrowth to get through winter.
- November
Move French lavender pots under cover or against a sheltered wall.
- December
Nothing to do.
Feeding lavender
Lavender in the ground needs no fertiliser, ever. Feed makes it soft, short-lived and weaker in scent. The only inputs worth considering are grit, lime on acid soil if a test calls for it, and a trace of seaweed for plants kept in pots for years.
Very low, rich or wet soil rots it and dilutes the scent. Mimic a dry hillside.
Feeding plan
At planting
Horticultural grit
A spadeful under and around each root ball on loam or clay. No compost, manure or fertiliser in the hole.
Late winter, only if a pH test reads below 6.5
Garden Lime (calcium carbonate)
The label rate is about 0.5 kg/m², so a single plant's patch of 0.25 m² takes about 125 g, scattered and raked in. Retest the following year before repeating.
Pots, at potting
5 ml per litre of compost, the bottom of the label range: 75 ml (five tablespoons) for a 30 cm pot holding about 15 litres. This is the only feed in the mix.
Pots from their second year, April and June
1 g per litre of water, watered on twice in the season. Trace elements with next to no nitrogen.
No feed is recommended for lavender in the ground. The products linked are for acid soil (lime, only after a pH test) and for long-term pot plants (seaweed).
Signs to watch
Leaves yellow on acid, wet soil
Waterlogging and low pH
Lift onto a gritty ridge and lime to pH 7
Soft, floppy growth with weak scent
Nitrogen excess
Stop all feed
Older leaves brown from the base in Aug
Normal die-back from shading, not nutrition
Trim and let light in
Pests, diseases and problems
Shoot tips eaten and grey-brown from late summer to spring; small metallic green and purple striped beetles on the plant
Rosemary beetle and its grey grubs, which also feed on rosemary, sage and thyme
Spread a sheet or upturned umbrella under the plant and tap the stems; collect and destroy what falls. Repeat through autumn and spring. Healthy plants outgrow light damage.
Blobs of white froth on the stems in May and June
Cuckoo spit, the cover made by froghopper nymphs
Harmless. Leave it, or wash it off with a hose.
Whole plant or large sections wilt, turn grey and die, often in spring after a wet winter
Root rot in waterlogged soil
No cure. Replant somewhere else on a mound or ridge with grit worked in, or in a raised bed. Do not mulch lavender with compost or bark; use gravel.
Plant splits open in the middle, with bare woody legs and growth only at the tips
Missed or too-light pruning over several years
It will not regrow from bare wood. Take semi-ripe cuttings in July or August and replace the plant, then trim the new ones every year from the first summer.
Grey fluffy mould and dead patches inside dense plants in a wet summer or autumn
Grey mould (botrytis) where air cannot move
Cut out affected shoots into healthy growth, clear dead leaves from the centre, and space plants so they do not touch other planting.
French lavender brown and dead after winter
Frost and cold wet on a half-hardy species
Wait until May before giving up, then trim to live growth. Grow L. stoechas in pots and move them against a house wall or under cover from November.
Pruning
Pruning and care
Trim L. angustifolia in late Aug straight after flowering, removing the flower stalks plus 2 to 3 cm of leafy growth, never into bare wood, which will not reshoot; a second light tidy in Mar is optional. L. stoechas is trimmed lightly after its first flush in Jun. Replace leggy plants after 8 to 10 years; move L. stoechas pots under cover in Nov.
Good to knowTrim after flowering (not into old wood); add grit for drainage.
Growing lavender in pots
Lavender is a good pot plant if the pot drains fast. Use terracotta 30 to 40 cm wide, with loam-based compost and a third by volume of grit, and stand it on pot feet so the drainage hole never sits in water. Water when the top few centimetres are dry in summer and hardly at all in winter. Trim after flowering as for plants in the ground. Repot into fresh gritty compost every two to three years. French lavender is best grown this way so it can be moved to shelter in November.
Lavender: common questions
When should I prune lavender in the UK?
Prune English lavender in late August, straight after flowering, taking off the flower stalks and 2 to 3 cm of the leafy growth beneath. Lavandins such as 'Grosso' flower later and are trimmed by mid September. Never cut back into bare brown wood, because lavender does not reshoot from it.
Why is my lavender going woody?
Because it has not been trimmed hard enough each year. Lavender only grows from its leafy tips, so untrimmed plants stretch, leaving bare wood at the base that then splits open. Trimming every year from the first summer keeps a plant compact for eight to ten years; a plant that is already woody is best replaced from cuttings.
Does lavender need feeding?
No. Lavender in the ground needs no fertiliser at all, and feeding gives soft, floppy growth with less scent and a shorter life. A plant kept in the same pot for several years can have a dilute seaweed feed twice a season, and that is the limit.
Sources
Growing information on this page was checked against these references in November 2026. Feeding rates are Dr Forest label rates.