Yes, you too can grow lavender successfully!

Three things are essential to grow lavender:

1. Pick the right lavender for your area

2. Find a sunny spot to plant in the ground or in a large pot

3. Make sure it has excellent drainage

Lavender is not only beautiful and fragrant but also easy to have in your own garden or yard, as long as you follow the instructions I will give you here. Plant them along a pathway or somewhere you walk by on a regular basis, then every time you touch the lavender or brush by in passing, it will release its refreshing fragrance. The uses of lavender seem to be endless. It is so much fun to harvest your own lavender, and use it for cooking, crafting, or just simply to enjoy the fragrance. Lavender helps you relax and sleep. Deer and rabbits leave your lavender alone, and there aren’t many pests that will bother it. It attracts lots of butterflies, and bees, so they will thank you for planting. As we all know, our pollinators are in trouble and need a healthy habitat to thrive.

Our Navajo Churro Sheep do the weeding in our lavender, and whip up the fragrance while making their way between and around the plants. Even in winter when the plants are dormant they still release their scent because the stems are just as fragrant as the blossoms.

Instructions on how to plant:

1. Dig a hole twice the size of the pot in good draining soil;

2. Make sure soil drains well (to test, you can fill the pre-dug hole with water and if it drains in 20 minutes or less it has good drainage); Stay away from potting soils containing peatmoss and fertilizers;

3. Remove entire clod from container carefully without disturbing the roots;

4. Place into hole carefully and backfill with dirt that was dug out;

5. Keep surface as it was in the pot the same as the surface in the ground;

6. Give it a good soak to settle in;

7. Monitor moisture for the next few weeks making sure it does not get too wet (most common killer of lavender) or too dry;

8. Young plants need more water than established plants, even in the South. Give it a good soak in the morning or evening when there is not any direct sunlight on it (yet).

   Lavender Needs

   Lavender can be planted from Spring through Fall in Tennessee. Lavenders prefer full sun and a neutral to slightly alkaline soil with very little organic matter – sheep manure can be given occasionally and has the right nutrient balance – low nitrogen, high phosphorus, and potassium – great for flowering.

   Heavy soils may need to be amended prior to planting to insure good drainage. Lavender is not competitive and does not respond well to weed pressure.

   Irrigation amounts and scheduling will vary according to soil type, climatic zone, and weather patterns. In general, water daily immediately after planting, until roots start to establish and you see new growth. Water mature plants every 10 days until bud formation, then once or twice weekly until harvest. Always good to monitor if the plants need less or extra.

   Pruning and Harvesting Lavender

   Lavender responds well to pruning. It flowers on new growth so plants should be pruned every year after it’s established. Pruning should take place when green leaves start to emerge from the base of the plant in the spring. Remove approximately one third of the top. Pruning keeps the plant from splitting open and becoming too woody.

   Harvest the lavender stems in the morning hours when the oils are the most concentrated and when approximately 50 percent of the flower buds have opened.

   Enjoy your Baby Lavender!