Shrub
English lavender
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flowers | Flowers in June | Flowers in July | Flowers in August | |||||||||
| Plant | Plant in April | Plant in May | Plant in September | |||||||||
| Prune | Prune in August | |||||||||||
| Looks good | Looks good in June | Looks good in July | Looks good in August |
Overview
English lavender is the hardiest and most garden-worthy lavender for the UK, with fragrant grey-green leaves and spikes humming with bumblebees in July. 'Hidcote' is deep purple and compact, 'Munstead' is lighter and slightly earlier, and 'Loddon Pink' or 'Edelweiss' offer softer colours. French lavender, with its rabbit-ear bracts, is showier but much less tolerant of cold, wet winters.
Where to grow english lavender
Choose the sunniest, driest spot you have: a south-facing bed, gravel garden or the edge of a path where you brush past it. It loves chalk and sand. Low lavender hedges look lovely around roses or herb beds, and it pairs naturally with rosemary and catmint.
Planting
Plant in April or May once the soil warms, or in September on light soils. On clay, plant into a raised bed or mound with plenty of grit, because winter wet kills lavender faster than cold. Space hedging plants about 30–40 cm apart and do not add manure or fertiliser.
Care through the year
Spring
Snip off any frost-damaged tips in April once you see fresh grey shoots.
Summer
Harvest stems for drying as the first flowers open; water young plants only in prolonged drought.
Autumn
Keep mulch, leaves and grass clippings away from the base, which can stay damp and rot.
Winter
Little to do; pots should be raised on feet so they drain freely.
Pruning
In August, as the flowers fade, shear the whole plant into a neat dome, taking off the flower stalks plus 2–3 cm of leafy growth. Always leave some green on every stem, because lavender rarely regrows from bare brown wood. Old, gappy plants are best replaced.
Propagation
Take semi-ripe cuttings of non-flowering shoots in late summer and root them in gritty compost in a cold frame. Seed-raised plants vary, so cuttings are the way to keep a named variety true.
Common problems
Root rot on wet soil is the main killer. Rosemary beetle, a small metallic green and purple beetle, may nibble foliage; pick it off by hand. Froghoppers leave harmless cuckoo spit in early summer that you can simply rinse away.
Guides to the problems most likely to affect english lavender:
Something else wrong? Diagnose it by symptom.
Month-by-month reminders
Jobs for this plant come round in April, May, August and September. Each month page lists everything else worth doing in the garden at the same time.
Related plants
Sources
Botanical names follow Kew's Plants of the World Online; growing attributes were checked against the references below. Text is our own. See our editorial policy.