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Lavender plant Care
There exists a wide range of different lavender species and lavender cultivars. The guidelines in this articles are only general and might have to be adjusted somewhat to suit your particular lavender species or cultivar. If you keep a particularly tender lavender variety you might for instance need to bring it indoors during the winter if you live in a cold part of the world. Planting it in a large pot filled with one part loam and two parts coarse sand instead of planting it in your garden is therefore a good idea.
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Care of lavender plant – soil
Choosing the right soil for your lavender is very important in order to take proper care of lavender plants. If your soil is heavy, it should ideally be drained using a deep trench of shingle. Adding a lot of sand to the soil will also make it less heavy.
Lavender is sensitive to acid, and acid soils must therefore be counteracted with plenty of lime if you want your lavender plants to thrive. Add lime to the soil before planting and then continuously add more lime by including it in the annual top dressing.
Care of lavender plant – planting
Lavender is grown singly as well as in groups and hedges. If you want to plant a lavender hedge, it is recommended to leave between 30 and 45 centimetres (12 and 18 inches) between each lavender plant. The ideal space will depend on which lavender variety you are planting. Some types of lavender are more suitable to create hedges than others.
Care of lavender plant – nutrition
Proper care of lavender plants will involved proving them with sufficient amounts of nutrients. Lavender are known to appreciate manure, but don’t over do it. By providing your lavender plants with plenty of potassium you can promote flowering, but too much potassium can make the lavender over-leafed and limp.
Care of lavender plant – Shab
One of the most dreaded lavender problems is the Shab disease. This disease is caused by Phoma Lavandula and the first symptom is tiny dark spots that form on the lavender stems. Eventually, the flower stalks will corkscrew and become brown and soon the entire plant will be dead. The traditional lavender fields in southern England were virtually eradicated by a Shab attack, but today you can purchase modern hybrid lavender that is resistant towards Phoma Lavandula. There is no known cure for Shab, so if your plants become infected you should get rid of them and take care not to spread the disease.
Care of lavender plant – other problems
Lavender is remarkably resilient towards common garden pests and many gardeners and orchid owners actually plant lavender in an effort to scare pests away. When you take care of lavender plants, you should not panic if you encounter the green capsid bug. This bug is responsible for producing so called “cuckoo spit” and many gardeners find cuckoo spit unsightly, but it is of no real threat to the lavender plant. Frost is a much more serious problem for the lavender plant and a many species and cultivars will die if exposed to severe frost
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Lavender plant flower
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