Herb · Lamiaceae
Lavender
Lavandula angustifolia
Give it full sun and sharp drainage, keep the soil lean, and lavender rewards 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 that earns its place with silvery foliage and fragrant purple spikes. A member of the mint family, it actually thrives on neglect and jumps at a sunny, gravelly corner where almost nothing else will grow. Once its roots dig in, it powers through drought and heat without missing a beat.
Nail one thing and the rest falls into line: lavender chases lean soil and sharp drainage above everything. Rich ground and an eager watering can sink most plants, since soggy roots rot in a hurry. Plant it high and dry, water with a light touch, and one plant will keep going strong for a decade or more.
It pulls its weight well past the flower bed, too. The spikes dry beautifully for sachets and cooking, they pull in bees all summer long, and a quick yearly shear keeps the plant dense and compact instead of bare and woody. Treat it a little rough and it holds its shape and scent year after year.
Care
The short version: full sun, lean and sharply drained soil, and hardly any water once it is established. Prune it every year after it flowers, skip the fertilizer, and never let water pool around the crown.
Light
Give lavender full sun, 6 or more hours a day and it delivers. Any less and it turns leafy and stingy with flowers, stretching toward whatever light it can grab. That same sun keeps the foliage dry and shoves disease aside.
Water
Water a young plant weekly only until it roots in, then pull way back. A grown lavender is drought-tolerant and wants no more than about half a gallon every couple of weeks, if that. Soggy soil drops it faster than anything.
Soil
Plant it in lean, sandy or gravelly ground that drains sharply. A pH of 6.5 to 7.5, neutral to slightly alkaline, hits the mark, and loam or shallow rocky soil works too, as long as it never sits waterlogged. Rich soil just flops the plant over.
Temperature
English lavender is a tough customer, taking anything from -4°F to 95°F (-20°C to 35°C) across zones 5 through 9. Hard winters and cold, wet soil are the real threats, not the summer heat.
Humidity
Lavender wants it dry, around 30% to 50% humidity, and bristles at muggy, still air. Where summers turn humid, wide spacing and good airflow keep fungal trouble off the leaves.
Feeding
Feed it next to nothing. A thin top-dressing of coarse compost at planting does the whole job, since richer feeding grows soft, floppy stems and dulls the scent. Lean ground pumps out the best fragrance.
Pruning
Shear the plant back by a third to a half every year, right after it flowers, to keep it compact and stretch its life. Stay in the green growth and never cut into the old bare wood, which rarely resprouts.
Repotting
In a container, repot every 2 to 3 years in spring into a pot just a touch larger, with a gritty, free-draining mix. Circling roots, fast-drying soil, and sparse flowering all shout that it has outgrown its pot.
Size & spacing
A grown plant hits about 18 to 35 inches (45 to 90 cm) tall and spreads roughly 24 to 35 inches (60 to 90 cm) across. Give each one that much room so air moves freely and the leaves stay dry.
When to plant
Lavender takes its time from seed and rewards the wait once it hits the ground. Sow indoors in late winter, plant the young ones out in spring after the last frost, and the purple spikes shoot up in early to mid-summer, ready to cut just as the buds start 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
Chase almost any lavender problem to its root and you land on too much water or too little sun, with most of the rest coming from a skipped yearly prune. Match what you see below, then tackle the conditions rather than the symptom.
Wilting and fading even while the soil stays wet
A wilt over soggy soil almost always spells root rot, often the Phytophthora kind, and it tops the list of ways a lavender is lost. Read it right and the fix clicks into place: the trouble is water pooling at the roots, not thirst, so you sharpen the drainage instead of reaching for the hose. Cut off the watering, lift the plant onto a raised mound of gritty soil, and let go of any plant whose 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 when spring rolls in has usually taken some winter damage, whether cold injury in zone 5 and colder or rot from cold, wet soil parked at the crown. Hold off before you pull it, though, since lavender wakes up late: wait until late spring, then cut back to any live green wood you turn up. Where winters throw their weight around, plant in sharply drained, sheltered ground and lean on 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
Skip the yearly trim and a lavender drifts woody and leggy, flinging all its green out to the tips of long, bare branches. Grab the shears right after it blooms, take a third to a half, and keep every cut in the green, because that old wood underneath almost never fires up new shoots. If a plant has already gone bare all over, spring into action and start a fresh one 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
Let damp, still air linger and fungal leaf spot moves in, striking first deep inside a crowded plant where the leaves never get a chance to dry. Fight back by opening the plant up with wider spacing and a yearly prune, watering at the base in the morning, and pulling off the spotted leaves. Get the air moving and you will knock the fungus back faster 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 lush, healthy plant that barely flowers
When a leafy lavender clams up and refuses to bloom, blame too little sun or too much feeding nearly every time. The plant chases six hours or more of direct sun and lean ground, and rich, fertilized soil steers all that energy into leaves instead of spikes. Shift it into full sun, quit feeding, and save the shears for after it blooms so you never lop off next year's flowers.
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
Lavender lands as a mild hazard for animals rather than a serious poison. The oils in the leaves and flowers, mainly linalool and linalyl acetate, can turn a pet's stomach if eaten in quantity, and the concentrated essential oil packs far more punch than the plant itself. For people the dried flowers are a culinary herb, safe in small amounts.
Toxic to
Cats · Dogs · Horses · Rabbits · Livestock · Birds
Safe for
People
Cats Mild
The linalool in the oils can set off drooling, vomiting, and a cat that snubs its food. One nibble usually clears up on its own, but the concentrated essential oil is a whole different danger and should never come anywhere near a cat.
Dogs Mild
A dog that chews the leaves or flowers may drool, throw up, or brush off a meal for a bit. The plant itself barely rates as an upset, so aim the real caution at undiluted lavender oil.
Horses Mild
Horses cannot vomit, so trouble tends to surface as a flat appetite and mild stomach discomfort instead. A few grazed mouthfuls rarely push past that.
Rabbits Mild
Those same aromatic oils that rattle cats and dogs can leave a rabbit off its feed with a queasy gut. Keep it out of the everyday menu and hand over just the odd sprig.
Livestock Mild
Grazing animals mostly march right past the strong-smelling foliage, and a small taste does little beyond a passing stomach upset. Only large helpings are worth a second thought.
Birds Caution
No solid record of harm exists, but birds run sensitive to strong aromatic oils, so play it safe and keep lavender, and its oil above all, well away from them.
People Culinary use
For people, the dried flowers shine as a kitchen herb in small amounts for baking and tea, and they are safe to eat. Just keep the concentrated essential oil out of the 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 split mostly on hardiness, size, and how much heat and humidity they can take in stride. These few are the ones you will run into most.
'Hidcote'
A compact charmer topping out near 20 inches (50 cm), its deep violet-blue spikes have long earned it a spot along low edging.
'Munstead'
A compact, cold-hardy heirloom that powers through zone 5 gardens where plenty of other lavenders tap out.
'Phenomenal' (Lavandula × intermedia)
A vigorous, bushy lavandin hybrid that combines strong winter hardiness with a real knack for shrugging off heat and humidity.
French lavender (Lavandula stoechas / L. dentata)
Spot it in a flash by its tufted rabbit-ear bracts, though it stays tender to roughly zones 8 to 11, so cold-climate growers run it as an annual or in a pot.
How to propagate
Lavender takes off easily from cuttings and moves slower from seed, and only cuttings 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 most reliable way to crank out more lavender and the only way to keep a named cultivar true to type. In summer, snag a non-flowering side shoot, cut just below a node, strip the lower leaves, and dip the base in rooting hormone. Hold it around 70°F (21°C) in moist mix and it roots in about 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 takes the slower, less predictable road, but it pays off for the patient. Sow indoors in late winter, 10 to 12 weeks before the last frost, and expect uneven germination across 2 to 4 weeks, with a full season or more before the plants flower. Named cultivars won't come true from seed, so the seedlings vary.
Myths
Lavender is completely safe for pets because it is a calming herb.
Not quite: the ASPCA lists 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 animals.
Lavender needs rich soil and generous regular watering to thrive.
Flip that around: lavender thrives in lean, sandy, sharply drained soil and laughs off drought once it settles in. Rich soil and frequent watering drive floppy growth and root rot, the most common way the plant checks out.
Hard pruning into the old woody base will rejuvenate a leggy lavender.
Slice into that bare old wood and it rarely bothers to push new shoots. Prune every year after flowering, take no more than half, and stay in the green, then swap out any plant that has already gone mostly woody.