Lavender Guide
At our specialist nursery, we stock an impressive array of lavender, and we can help you choose the right one for your garden. There are countless varieties ranging from white to pink through every shade of blue, right up to the purple hue of ‘Hidcote.’ For the UK gardener, four main lavender species are suitable for growing outside. Lavandula angustifolia, Lavandula x intermedia, Lavandula chaytorae and Lavandula stoechas. Gardeners are often familiar with a couple of varieties of angustifolia, such as ‘Hidcote’ and ‘Munstead,’ which are popular as hedging plants of about 60cm in height. Lavender intermedia (sometimes called Lavandin) is also suitable for a hedge but is taller at 80cm. Finally, lavender chaytorae is relatively unknown but an excellent silver-leaved plant that flowers profusely in tubs and containers; we recommend named varieties ‘Sawyers’ and ‘Richard Gray.’
French lavenders, varieties of Lavandula stoechas, are the ones with the ‘bunny ears’.
These should be treated differently from the others mentioned here. The stoechas lavenders are prolific flowerers, particularly in a good summer. They are well suited to container growing, where they benefit from a feed every two weeks to replace all the energy they expend producing flowers. The French lavenders have a strong, almost citrus-like fragrance to their foliage, but they do not all fill the air with the classic scent of the angustifolia and intermedias. In our experience, these lavenders are not reliably as winter hardy as the angustifolia and intermedias, and it is wise to consider them for summer bedding. They are excellent ‘anchor’ plants in a mixed container and are available in various colours.
Lavender is a native of the Mediterranean and is happiest in an open, sunny position with good drainage. It is a common misconception that lavender is a tender plant; wide varieties grow in harsh environments at high altitudes. However, the plant has adapted well to the English climate and thrives even with our modest sunshine; it dislikes having wet roots in winter. Lavender will tolerate freezing conditions in well-drained soil, but it will almost certainly die if it is damp soil. So, if you have slight clay soil, dig in some grit to improve the drainage, but if you have very heavy clay soil, plant your lavender in containers
or raised beds.
Lavender grows well in containers where you can provide excellent, well-draining soil and site it optimally. Our advice is to use a good quality John Innes compost No.2 or No.3.
You should avoid multipurpose compost designed to hold moisture(lavender will not like this, particularly in the winter).
Lavender makes a lovely hedge, adding structural interest in winter and masses of colour and scent in the summer. The two main subjects for this purpose are Lavender angustifolia and Lavender x intermedia. The intermedia varieties will produce a taller hedge flowering from mid-July to the end of August. The intermedia varieties are for you if you love butterflies, bees, and scents. We recommend shorter angustifolia varieties if you prefer early summer colour and more formality. To learn more, we recommend visiting Long Barn in the lavender season from late May to August.
