In This Post:
Step-by-Step Guide for Planting
Tips for Planting Lavender
Best Time to Plant Lavender
Care & Maintenance
Lavender – a Mediterranean evergreen shrub – is known to enhance the beauty of any garden. Their pollinator-friendly properties and pleasant fragrance are some of the many reasons why gardeners are always eager to plant and watch them grow into a flowery sight to behold. In this blog, we will tell you how you can successfully grow lavender at home and share some tips for its maintenance, along with some insightful information about the shrub.
So, without further ado, let’s get gardening!
Tips to Grow Lavender at Home
Before we begin, here’s a little background as to what inspired us to come up with the idea.
The idea for this blog came to us when we were covering how to make your garden bee-friendly, where we mentioned a list of pollinator-friendly plants that can help you make your backyard more welcoming for honeybees and other pollinators.
As mentioned earlier, lavender is a shrub, which means it grows into a small or medium-sized woody plant. They are known for their perennial properties and can be grown in any type of climate or region. It can live for several years and require very less maintenance throughout its life.
Growing the plant from seed is a bit technical, so we will focus on how you can take a sapling and plant it in your garden. If you want to plant lavender in your home garden, you should opt for a sapling that has been cut from a mother plant. We will discuss this in detail in the latter part of the blog.
If you are wondering whether or not lavender can genuinely add value to your home garden, then it is best to take a look at some benefits of growing lavender that we have mentioned below.
Lavender boasts a host of benefits, and it is used around the globe for various purposes. As such, some people plant it for its medicinal usage, while others use it for oils, perfumes, toiletries, food, and more.
The purpose and benefits of growing lavender are not only limited to the kitchen and domestic usage. Gardeners usually place lavender bushes strategically around a vegetable garden since it is ideal for luring honeybees, butterflies, and several other pollinators. They also tuck this purple flower into a wildlife garden, where the flowers are usually abuzz with activities of wasps and hornets.
Now that you fully understand the advantages of planting lavender, we will tell you the best time to plant lavender at your home in the next section of this blog.
The Best Time to Plant Lavender
As mentioned earlier, lavender is a perennial plant, and it isn’t majorly affected by climatic conditions. According to botanical experts, the best time to plant lavender at your home is in spring – precisely from March to May – when the soil is warming up. On the other hand, if you are planning to plant it during autumn, you need to consider a few things for its survival during winter. As such, use bigger plants and follow all the guidelines for its care and maintenance mentioned in this blog.
Step-by-Step Guide for Planting Lavender
Lavender, a beautiful lilac flower, can breathe life in your lifeless backyard, and it can turn it into a fragrant haven of small shrubs. This aesthetically pleasing flower can easily be planted in small and easy steps, here’s what you need to do:
- Step 1: Choose a sapling
- Step 2: Pick a spot in your garden
- Step 3: Prepare the soil for planting
- Step 4: Plant the sapling
Step 1: Choose a Sapling
If you want to grow lavender at home, you should be aware of its basic types. Just like any other shrub and plant, lavender also has an extended family. Each kind is differentiated for its unique colour, height, and peak season of blooming. The most common types of lavender available in the market are mentioned below along with their peak season for blooming:
- English Lavender: June to August
- French Lavender: Early summer to fall
- Spanish Lavender: Mid to late summer
- Lavindin: Mid to late summer
You can choose whichever is available. At this point, we also recommend that you ask around a few friends to find out what worked best for them.
Step 2: Pick Up a Spot in Your Garden
The next step in our guide on how to grow lavender at home is choosing the right spot in or around your property.
As we all know, sunlight is one of the main sources of food for plants. So, it goes without saying that you should pick up a spot in your garden that receives an ample amount of sunlight for at least 6 hours in the day. If you are trying to grow it indoors, you should pick a spot where sunlight enters your home directly, such as a balcony, windowsill, or courtyard.
On a side note, if you have space constraints around your house, you can take assistance from our recently published guide on setting up a vertical garden.
Step 3: Prepare the Soil for Planting
In order to plant lavender at your home, you need to prepare the soil first. The perfect soil for growing a healthy plant of lavender is fast-draining soil. It needs a dry and moderately fertile soil [such as chalky and alkaline soils]. Make sure that the soil is not waterlogged or doesn’t have any excess water; otherwise, the roots will start rotting even before they start growing. If the soil around your house has moisture, you can add the builder’s sand before planting. It can help increase drainage, which is vital for this purple flower.
Step 4: Plant the Sapling
The most critical step in growing a lavender flower in your garden is planting the sapling. It is incredibly crucial, so you need to be very specific about the steps. As mentioned earlier, the easiest way to begin is to opt for plants that are taken from mother plants rather than starting from the seed.
Right after you have picked the perfect spot and the plant of your choice, the next step is to prepare a hole for planting. Dig a hole that’s twice as deep and wide as the root ball of the lavender plant you have picked. Plant the sapling with the top of the root ball placed evenly with the soil line. Fill the gaps around the plant with soil and press firmly.
How to Take Care of Lavender Plant?
Anyone who is into gardening will agree that lavender is a delightful plant to have in your garden as it adds colour and beauty to the garden. Let’s walk you through on how to take care of the lavender plant:
- Lavender plant needs a lot of attention and care, so do not overburden yourself by going for multiple plants at one time.
- Keep the plant away from wet and moist areas.
- Water the plant only once or twice a week until the plant establishes – water only when you feel like the soil around the plant is extra dry.
- Mature plants should be watered every two to three weeks.
- Cover the plants with a winter mulch of evergreen branches or straw if you are living in extra cold regions.
- Place the plant where sunlight breaks in an abundant amount.
This brings us to the end of how to grow lavender at home. We have shared both ideas for indoors and outdoors. We have also discussed the most popular members of the lavender family. You should now be ready for growing lavender in your garden. If we have missed anything, let us know at blog@zameen.com or send us a message on our Facebook page.
Moreover, take a look at our post on growing a kitchen garden in your balcony in case you are planning to start a DIY food and herbal garden. We have shared some exclusive tips and a list of suitable plants that can thrive in your balcony in that post.
For more tips on gardening and a healthy lifestyle, keep visiting Zameen Blog – Pakistan’s most trusted portal for everything lifestyle. Get our blogs delivered directly to your inbox. Just enter your email address in the box on the right side of your screen and hit subscribe.
