Herb · Lamiaceae
Lavender
Lavandula angustifolia
Give it full sun and sharp drainage, keep the soil lean, and forgiving lavender will thank you with fragrance for years.
Full sun
Every 10–21 days
USDA 5–9
18–35 in · 45–90 cm
Overview
Lavender is a Mediterranean subshrub loved for its silvery foliage and fragrant purple spikes, and it is far more forgiving than nervous first-timers expect. It belongs to the mint family and truly thrives on a little neglect, settling happily into a sunny, gravelly corner where fussier plants sulk. Once its roots take hold, it stands up to drought and heat without any hand-holding from you.
The one thing that really matters is easy to get right: lavender wants lean soil and sharp drainage above everything else. Most plants that fail are simply loved too hard, with rich ground and a heavy watering can that leave the roots sitting wet, and wet roots rot fast. Plant it high and dry, water with a light hand, and you can keep the same plant thriving for a decade or more.
It gives back well beyond the flower bed, too. The spikes dry beautifully for sachets and cooking, they pull in bees all summer long, and a simple yearly shear keeps the plant dense and compact rather than bare and woody. Treat it a touch mean, trust yourself, and it holds its shape and scent year after year.
Care
The short version: give it full sun, lean and sharply drained soil, and only a little water once it has settled in. Trim it each year after it flowers, hold off on the fertilizer, and never let water pool around the crown, and you will do just fine.
Light
Give lavender full sun, 6 or more hours a day, and it will settle in happily. With any less it grows leafy and shy of bloom, stretching toward whatever light it can reach. That same sun keeps the foliage dry and helps hold disease at bay.
Water
Water a young plant weekly just until it roots in, then feel free to ease right off. A grown lavender is drought-tolerant and asks for no more than about half a gallon every couple of weeks, if that. Soggy soil is the one thing that will let you down fastest.
Soil
Set it into lean, sandy or gravelly ground that drains sharply and you are already most of the way there. A pH of 6.5 to 7.5, neutral to a touch alkaline, suits it nicely, and loam or shallow rocky soil is fine too as long as it never stays waterlogged. Rich soil only makes the plant floppy.
Temperature
English lavender is wonderfully tough, taking anything from -4°F to 95°F (-20°C to 35°C) across zones 5 through 9. It is hard winters and cold, wet soil you watch for, not the summer heat.
Humidity
Lavender likes it dry, around 30% to 50% humidity, and doesn't care for muggy, still air. Where summers turn humid, a little extra spacing and good airflow keep fungal trouble off the leaves.
Feeding
Feed it almost nothing and you can relax. A thin top-dressing of coarse compost at planting is all it wants, since richer feeding only grows soft, floppy stems and weakens the scent. Lean ground gives you the best fragrance.
Pruning
Shear the plant back by a third to a half each year, right after it flowers, to keep it neat and long-lived. Just stay in the green growth and never cut into the old bare wood, which rarely resprouts.
Repotting
In a container, move it up every 2 to 3 years in spring into a pot only a little larger, with a gritty, free-draining mix. Circling roots, fast-drying soil, and sparse flowering are the friendly signs it has outgrown its home.
Size & spacing
A grown plant reaches about 18 to 35 inches (45 to 90 cm) tall and roughly 24 to 35 inches (60 to 90 cm) across. Give each one that much elbow room so air moves freely and the leaves stay dry.
When to plant
Lavender takes its time from seed and rewards a patient gardener beautifully once it is in the ground. Sow indoors in late winter, set the young plants out in spring after the last frost, and the purple spikes arrive in early to mid-summer, ready to cut just as the buds begin to open.
Northern hemisphere
Southern hemisphere
Typical months for a temperate climate: start earlier in warm zones, later where spring frosts linger.
- Sow: late winter, 10-12 weeks before last frost; germination is slow and erratic
- Plant: spring after the last frost, once soil has warmed and drains freely
- Harvest: Purple flower spikes appear early to mid-summer; harvest spikes just as the buds begin to open for the strongest fragrance, and dry in a cool airy place
Hardiness
USDA hardiness zones: 5–9
Temperature: down to -29°C
Troubleshooting
Nearly every lavender worry traces back to a bit too much water or a bit too little sun, and most of the rest comes from missing the yearly prune. None of it is hard to fix. Find what you see below, adjust the conditions rather than chasing the symptom, and the plant usually comes right.
Wilting and fading even while the soil stays damp
Take heart, because this is a problem you can learn to avoid: what looks like thirst is usually root rot, often the Phytophthora kind, and it comes from water lingering around the roots rather than from a lack of it. So the answer is not more watering but better drainage. Let the soil dry, lift the plant onto a raised mound of gritty soil, and only give up on it if the roots have already turned dark and soft.
Fix:
- Stop supplemental watering immediately
- Replant into a raised bed, mound, or gritty sharply draining soil
- Discard plants with extensively rotted roots rather than trying to save them
The whole plant never wakes up after winter
A lavender still brown in spring has most likely suffered winter damage, whether that is cold injury in zone 5 and colder or rot from cold, wet soil at the crown. Be patient and wait until late spring before you decide, since lavender is naturally slow to break dormancy, then cut back to whatever live green wood you find. Where winters bite hard, plant in sharply drained, sheltered ground and reach for tough cultivars like 'Munstead' or 'Phenomenal'.
Fix:
- Wait until late spring before removing the plant, since lavender breaks dormancy late
- Cut back to any live green wood found
- Replace dead plants, choosing hardy cultivars such as 'Munstead' or 'Phenomenal'
Bare woody stems below with green only at the tips
Don't worry, this one is easy to head off with a little routine: skip the yearly trim and lavender slowly goes woody and leggy, pushing all its green out to the ends of long bare branches. The kind thing to do is shear it back by a third to a half soon after it blooms, keeping your cuts in the green, since that tired old wood beneath seldom sprouts again. If a plant has already gone fully bare, you can simply start fresh from cuttings.
Fix:
- Shear back by one-third to one-half into green growth right after flowering
- Stay above the old bare wood, which rarely resprouts
- Replace very old, collapsed plants with new ones from cuttings
Spotted, yellow, or moldy leaves in damp crowded growth
If damp, still air has crept in, you may see fungal leaf spot, and it tends to start deep inside a crowded plant where the leaves can never dry out. The good news is that the fix is gentle and simple: open the plant up with more room and a yearly prune, water at the base in the morning, and clear away the marked leaves. Fresh air moving through will do far more than any spray.
Fix:
- Thin and space plants to improve air circulation
- Water at the base in the morning, keeping foliage dry
- Remove and dispose of affected foliage and debris
A leafy, healthy plant that just won't bloom
When a green, happy lavender holds back its flowers, the reason is almost always too little sun or too much feeding, and both are easy to put right. The plant needs six hours or more of direct sun and lean ground to bloom, while rich, fed soil coaxes out leaves in place of spikes. Move it into full sun, set the fertilizer aside, and prune only after it flowers so you never trim away the buds you are waiting for.
Fix:
- Move or transplant to a spot with 6+ hours of direct sun
- Stop fertilizing and let the soil stay lean
- Prune only after flowering so next season's bloom wood is not removed
Toxicity
There is no need to panic here: lavender is a mild hazard for animals rather than a serious poison. The oils in its leaves and flowers, mainly linalool and linalyl acetate, can unsettle a pet's stomach if a lot is eaten, and the concentrated essential oil is far more dangerous than the plant. For people the dried flowers are a gentle culinary herb, safe in small amounts.
Toxic to
Cats · Dogs · Horses · Rabbits · Livestock · Birds
Safe for
People
Cats Mild
You may notice drooling, some vomiting, or a cat that turns away from its food, all down to the linalool in the oils. A small nibble tends to settle on its own, but the concentrated essential oil is far more dangerous and should never go near a cat.
Dogs Mild
A dog that chews a few leaves or flowers might drool, be sick, or lose interest in dinner for a little while. The plant itself is only a minor upset, so the thing to watch is the undiluted lavender oil.
Horses Mild
Since horses can't vomit, any trouble tends to show as a dull appetite and a bit of stomach discomfort instead. A few grazed mouthfuls seldom lead to more than that.
Rabbits Mild
The same aromatic oils that unsettle cats and dogs can leave a rabbit off its feed with a queasy tummy. Keep it out of the everyday diet and offer no more than the occasional sprig.
Livestock Mild
Grazing animals usually walk right past the strong-smelling foliage, and a small taste does little beyond a passing stomach upset. Only large amounts are worth any concern.
Birds Caution
There is no clear record of harm here, yet birds are sensitive to strong aromatic oils, so the kindest move is to keep lavender, and especially its oil, away from them.
People Culinary use
You can enjoy the dried flowers as a kitchen herb, using small amounts in baking and tea, and they are perfectly safe to eat. Just leave the concentrated essential oil out of your food.
The garden plant is a mild hazard, but concentrated lavender essential oil is far more dangerous, especially to cats - never apply oil to pets or let them ingest it.
Helpline numbers
United States
ASPCA Animal Poison Control: (888) 426-4435 (fee applies)
United Kingdom
Animal PoisonLine: 01202 509000 (fee applies)
Australia
Animal Poisons Helpline: 1300 869 738
Varieties
Lavenders mostly differ in how hardy they are, how big they grow, and how much heat and humidity they will happily take. These few are the ones you are most likely to come across.
'Hidcote'
A compact favorite reaching about 20 inches (50 cm), its deep violet-blue spikes have made it a long-loved choice for low edging.
'Munstead'
A compact, cold-hardy heirloom that comes through zone 5 gardens happily where plenty of other lavenders would falter.
'Phenomenal' (Lavandula × intermedia)
A vigorous lavandin hybrid with a full bushy shape, strong winter hardiness, and a welcome ease with heat and humidity.
French lavender (Lavandula stoechas / L. dentata)
You can pick it out by its tufted rabbit-ear bracts, though it is tender to roughly zones 8 to 11, so in cold climates it is grown as an annual or kept in a pot.
How to propagate
Lavender is a pleasure to multiply from cuttings and a slower job from seed, and only cuttings will keep a named cultivar true to type.
Stem cuttingsEasy
Summer, from non-flowering side shoots · 2-6 weeks to root in warm, moist potting mix
Cuttings are the friendliest way to make more lavender and the only way to keep a named cultivar true. Through summer, choose a non-flowering side shoot, snip just below a node, strip off the lower leaves, and dip the base in rooting hormone. Kept around 70°F (21°C) in moist mix, it should root in roughly 2 to 6 weeks.
SeedModerate
Sow indoors in late winter, 10-12 weeks before last frost · 2-4 weeks to germinate; plants take a full season or more to reach flowering size
Seed is the slower, less predictable path, but it can be rewarding all the same. Sow indoors in late winter, 10 to 12 weeks before the last frost, and expect patchy germination across 2 to 4 weeks, with a full season or more before the plants bloom. Named cultivars won't come true from seed, so your seedlings will vary.
Myths
Lavender is completely safe for pets because it is a calming herb.
The ASPCA does list lavender as toxic to cats, dogs, and horses, and eating the plant can bring on mild nausea, vomiting, and a lost appetite. The concentrated essential oil is the real hazard, cats most of all, so keep it well away from your animals.
Lavender needs rich soil and generous regular watering to thrive.
In truth lavender is happiest in lean, sandy, sharply drained soil and shrugs off drought once it has settled in. Rich soil and frequent watering lead to floppy growth and root rot, which is the most common way the plant is lost.
Hard pruning into the old woody base will rejuvenate a leggy lavender.
Cut down into that bare old wood and it seldom pushes out fresh shoots. Prune every year after flowering, taking no more than half and keeping to the green growth, and start over with a new plant once one has gone mostly woody.