How to Grow Lavender

Choose a species and variety of Lavender that’s suited to your climate and space. Some plants can grow up to 1 m tall and wide, whereas others are more compact and ideal for smaller spaces and pots. The most common types of Lavender include:

English Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) – also known as ‘true’ Lavender, it has aromatic foliage, sweetly fragrant flowers and is the best type for cooking. It grows well in cool to temperate climates with warm dry summers and cool winters and will tolerate mild frosts.

Yates Lavender Munstead Dwarf – a highly aromatic compact form of English Lavender that’s ideal for low hedging, borders and pots.

French Lavender (Lavandula dentata) – grows well in temperate to cool climates with only mild frosts and is also the best species for growing in warm humid climates in Australia. It has richly fragrant foliage and mildly scented flowers, with peak flowering in summer and autumn.

Spanish or Italian Lavender (Lavandula stoechas) – has distinctive ‘wing’ petals on the top of highly scented flowers during spring. It will tolerate some humidity.

Lavandin (Lavandula x intermedia) – a hybrid with an abundance of long and slender highly fragrant flowers during spring and summer. It’s a great option for hot and dry gardens and is frost tolerant.

Fernleaf Lavender (Lavandula pinnata) - as the name so describes, has fern-like leaves that are grey to green. Flowers and foliage do not have the typical lavender smell.

Choose a spot with well-drained soil that receives at least 6 hours of sunshine a day. Lavender does not tolerate prolonged wet soil.

Check the soil pH - ideally, the soil pH should be neutral to slightly alkaline (7-8). If the soil is too acidic (<7), increase the pH with Yates Hydrangea Pinking Liquid Lime & Dolomite.

Prior to planting, improve and enrich the soil with Yates Dynamic Lifter Soil Improver & Plant Fertiliser.

Dig the planting hole twice as wide and to the same depth as the root-ball. Remove the shrub from the container, gently tease the roots and cut away any circled or tangled roots. Place the plant in the soil and backfill around the roots with soil, gently firming down. The final level of soil should be at the same level as the original potting mix around the plant.

Water in well to settle the soil around the roots. A raised or doughnut-shaped ring of soil can be formed around the outer edge of the plant’s root zone. This helps to keep water where it’s needed.

Keep the soil moist as the plants establish. Applying an organic mulch, such as sugarcane or bark chips, will help keep the soil moist.

Once established, Lavender is fairly drought tolerant, however, will be much healthier if watered regularly. In extended periods of hot and dry weather, Lavender will benefit from a good deep watering once or twice a week, but take care to not overwater – it does not like wet feet.

Once plants are established, feed regularly from spring to autumn with Yates Thrive Natural Roses & Flowers Concentrate to promote healthy growth and lots of flowers.

Once flowering has finished each year, cut back the plants by one-third. This helps promote fresh leafy growth and more flowers and reduces the development of leafless woody stems in the centre of the plant.

Choose a well-drained pot at least 30 cm wide. Position in a sunny spot that receives at least 6 hours of sunshine a day.

Choose a good quality premium potting mix, like Yates Premium Potting Mix with Dynamic Lifter.

Part-fill your chosen pot with potting mix. Remove the shrub from its container, gently tease the roots and cut away any circled or tangled roots. Place the Lavender’s root ball on the potting mix and backfill around the roots with more potting mix. The final level of mix should be the same as the level currently around the plant. Water in well to settle the potting mix around the roots.

Keep the potting mix moist as the plant establishes. Applying organic mulch, such as bark chips, will help keep the pot moist.

Once established, Lavender is fairly drought tolerant, however, will be much healthier if watered regularly. In extended periods of hot and dry weather, potted Lavender will benefit from a good deep watering once or twice a week, but take care to not overwater – it does not like wet feet.

Once plants are established, feed regularly from spring to autumn with Yates Thrive Natural Roses & Flowers Concentrate to promote healthy growth and lots of flowers.

Once flowering has finished each year, cut back the plants by one-third. This helps promote fresh leafy growth and more flowers and reduces the development of leafless woody stems in the centre of the plant.

An easy way to grow more Lavender is from stem cuttings. This is the process of using 10-15 cm long pieces of stems to grow new plants. Take softwood cuttings in spring, semi-hardwood cuttings in late autumn or hardwood cuttings in winter.

In the cool of the early morning, cut pieces of stems between 10-15 cm long, ensuring you make the cut just below a node (the bump on the stem where leaves emerge). Remove all lower leaves, leaving just a few leaves at the top of the cutting.

Fill a pot or deep tray with Yates Specialty Potting Mix Cuttings & Seeds. Use your finger, a dowel or a pencil to poke 3 cm deep holes in the mix.

Dip the base of the cuttings into a rooting hormone gel, like Yates Clonex Rooting Hormone Gel – Purple (for softwood and semi-hardwood cuttings) or Yates Clonex Rooting Hormone Gel – Red (for hardwood cuttings) and insert into the preformed holes. Gently firm the mix around the stems and water gently to moisten the mix.

Position the pot or tray in a warm brightly lit spot, out of direct sunlight. You can cover the pot or tray with a plastic bag – use sticks to prop it up to prevent it from being in contact with the stem and leaves. Keep the mix moist.

Cuttings will form their own roots over the coming months. Once they have developed a small root system, gently separate the cuttings and plant them in individual pots filled with Yates Premium Potting Mix with Dynamic Lifter. Allow them to establish further, before transplanting to their final home in the garden or in larger pots.

Lavender can be grown from seed. Compared to buying potted plants, it will take longer for the plants to mature and flower. However, it is a rewarding process and a more economical way to grow many plants.

Yates Lavender Munstead Dwarf Seeds is a compact variety of English Lavender that has long-lasting perfumed flowers.

To grow Lavender from seed, sow seed 5 mm deep into trays or small pots of Yates Seed Raising Mix. Keep the mix moist and seedlings will emerge in 14 – 21 days. Transplant the seedlings into individual pots when they’re large enough to handle. Once they’re established, transplant them out into the garden or a larger pot.

The best time of day to harvest Lavender is in the early morning when the oils are most concentrated.

For easy drying, ensure the Lavender is as dry as possible. Harvest before the morning dew, avoid overhead watering the night before and avoid harvesting after rain.

Lavender generally has a naturally nice shape. But, to promote denser growth, better flowering and reduce woody stems developing in the centre of the plant, regular pruning is required.

Once flowering has finished each year, cut back the plants by one-third.

Prune your Lavender plant just after the flowering season finishes.

Different species of Lavender are suited to different climates around Australia. See ‘Types of Lavender’ for suggestions on what types to grow where.

Lavender does best in an airy, sunny spot that receives at least 6 hours of sunshine a day. It does not like shade or humidity.

Lavender needs excellent drainage and does not tolerate a wet root system. Soil or potting mix and pots should be well-drained. Ideally, the soil pH should be neutral to slightly alkaline. If the soil is too acidic, increase the pH with Yates Hydrangea Pinking Liquid Lime & Dolomite.

Yes, Lavender grows very well in a pot. Choose a well-drained pot, at least 30 cm wide, and use a quality potting mix like Yates Premium Potting Mix with Dynamic Lifter. Position the pot in a sunny location that receives at least 6 hours of sunshine a day. Keep the potting mix slightly moist and feed regularly with Yates Thrive Natural Roses & Flowers Concentrate.

Flowering plants like Lavender need a fertiliser that contains additional potassium (K) - the nutrient that helps promote flowering. Yates Thrive Natural Roses & Flowers Concentrate is boosted with extra potassium to encourage lots of flowers, together with nutrients for healthy leaf and root growth.

Many overseas websites discuss growing Lavender indoors, however, plants will do much better outdoors. There is generally not enough light inside for Lavender to thrive. Potted Lavender can be brought inside for a few hours at a time to show off its beautiful and fragrant flowers, but it should be treated as an outdoor plant.

There are a few reasons why a Lavender plant is not flowering including lack of sun, lack of nutrients, and flowering seasonality.

Lavender needs at least 6 hours of direct sunlight to flower. Less sunlight than this can reduce flowering, as well as lead to spindly or sparse leaf and stem growth.

Flowering plants like Lavender need nutrients to promote lots of flowers, therefore regular feeding with a specially formulated flower fertiliser is important. Feed plants every 1 – 2 weeks with Yates Thrive Natural Roses & Flowers Liquid Plant Food which is boosted with flower-promoting potassium.

Also check to see when the flowering season is for that type of Lavender, as different species flower at different times of the year.

Lavender is generally pest-free but can sometimes get Aphids, Whitefly and Scale. These sap-sucking pests are also associated with the disease Sooty Mould. Caterpillars have also been known to chew the leaves.

These pests and this disease can be treated with Yates Nature's Way Citrus & Ornamental Spray. However, it should be noted that lavender is generally pretty hardy, and if the plant is getting pests, then it may not be getting everything that it needs. Make sure the plant is getting enough sun, is growing in its preferred climate and in well-drained soil or potting mix, and is being fed with fertilisers like Yates Thrive Natural Roses & Flowers Organic Based Pelletised Plant Food.

Lavender is a hardy plant, however they can succumb to Root Rot, especially if the soil or potting mix is poorly drained and/or plants are overwatered. To reduce Root Rot, grow Lavender in well-drained soil or pots and quality potting mix. To prevent Root Rot, particularly during prolonged wet weather, treat plants with Yates Anti Rot Phosacid Systemic Fungicide.

Sooty Mould is another disease of Lavender, but this is the result of a pest infestation (see Common Pests of Lavender). When the pest is controlled, the Sooty Mould will disappear.

Lavenders are easy to grow when they are planted in the right spot and given the right care. The most common cause of plants going brown, black, or dying is generally due to overwatering, heavy and prolonged rain, poor drainage, or clay soil.