Few scents say British summer quite like English lavender brushing against your legs on a warm path. It is the hardiest of the lavenders, shrugs off drought once settled, and its purple spikes hum with bees from June onwards.
The catch is that lavender ages badly if it is left alone or cut at the wrong time. This guide explains where to plant it, why it prefers neglect to pampering, and exactly how to prune each August so your plants stay compact for years rather than turning into woody, splayed shrubs.
Lavandula angustifolia, English lavender at a glance
- Botanical name Lavandula angustifolia (sometimes sold under the older names L. officinalis or L. spica)
- Common name English lavender, common lavender, true lavender
- Plant type Evergreen, aromatic dwarf shrub
- Hardiness RHS H5 (about -10 to -15C)
- Height and spread Species up to about 1m tall and slightly wider, popular cultivars such as 'Munstead' and 'Hidcote' stay around 40 to 60cm
- Flowering June to August, dense spikes of lavender-blue to deep purple flowers on long stalks, pink and white forms exist
- Foliage Narrow grey-green aromatic leaves all year, greener and softer in spring growth
- Position Full sun, open and airy
- Soil Poor to moderately fertile, free-draining, neutral to alkaline, dislikes heavy wet clay
- Good for Low hedges, path edges, gravel gardens, pots, cottage borders, bees and cutting for drying
Sun, air and the driest spot you have
Lavandula angustifolia comes from the stony hillsides of the western Mediterranean, so give it the hottest, sunniest place in the garden. Six or more hours of direct sun keeps the growth tight and the flower spikes plentiful. In shade it leans, sprawls and flowers sparsely.
Good air movement matters too, as damp, still corners encourage grey mould on the foliage. Here in Lincolnshire, with some of the lowest rainfall in the country, lavender is very much at home, and south-facing slopes, wall bases and gravel drives all suit it.
Planting into lean, gritty soil
Spring is the best time to plant, once the soil has started to warm in April or May. Autumn planting works on sandy or chalky ground but is risky on clay, where young roots can sit in cold water all winter.
Lavender does not want rich soil. Skip the manure and compost, and instead fork in a few handfuls of horticultural grit if your ground is heavy. On very wet clay, plant on a low mound or in a raised bed so the crown sits above the water table.
- Space compact cultivars about 30cm apart for a low hedge, or 45cm for larger forms.
- Set the plant at the same depth it sat in its pot, never deeper.
- Water well after planting, then every week or so through the first summer in dry spells.
- In pots, use a loam-based compost such as John Innes No. 2 mixed with about a quarter grit.
Water and feed sparingly
Once a lavender has had a full year in the ground, it rarely needs watering at all, even through a parched July. Overwatering causes far more losses than drought, because soggy roots rot quickly. Plants in containers are the exception and need a drink whenever the compost has dried out a few centimetres down.
Feeding is usually unnecessary. Rich conditions give soft, floppy growth with less scent and a shorter life. If a pot plant looks pale after a couple of years, a light sprinkling of a balanced slow-release fertiliser in spring is plenty.
The late summer haircut
Pruning is the one job that decides how long your lavender lasts. Do it once a year, as soon as the flowers fade, which is usually mid to late August. That timing gives the plant several weeks to push out fresh grey shoots before winter, and those shoots protect the crown from frost.
Use shears to remove the flower stalks and about 2 to 3cm of the leafy growth below them, shaping each plant into a neat dome. Always leave some green, leafy growth on every stem. Lavender rarely regrows from bare, brown wood, so a hard cut into the old framework often leaves permanent gaps or kills the plant outright.
A light tidy in April, just snipping off any frost-blackened tips, is fine. Avoid a second heavy cut in spring, as it delays flowering and weakens the plant.
Old, woody plants and when to start again
Even with careful pruning, most English lavenders become leggy after eight to ten years, with a bare woody base and growth only at the tips. Because they will not reshoot from old wood, there is no reliable way to rejuvenate them by cutting hard.
The kinder approach is to replace them. Take cuttings from the old plant a year before you dig it out, so you have young plants of the same variety ready to go into its place.
Raising lavender from cuttings
Semi-ripe cuttings taken from July to September root easily. Choose non-flowering side shoots about 8 to 10cm long, pull them away with a small heel of older bark, and strip the lower leaves.
Push them around the edge of a pot of gritty compost, water once, and keep them in a cold frame or sheltered spot out of direct sun. Most will have rooted by the following spring, ready to pot on and plant out once they have filled a small pot with roots.
Bees, beetles and other visitors
Lavender appears on the RHS Plants for Pollinators list, and English lavender is a particular favourite of bumblebees, honeybees and butterflies such as small whites and gatekeepers. Leave a few flowers on the plant until they fade if you want to keep feeding them into late summer.
Rosemary beetle is the pest to watch for. The small metallic green and purple striped beetles and their grey larvae nibble the foliage from late summer to spring, so pick them off or shake them onto a sheet of paper. Frothy cuckoo spit in May is harmless. Sudden collapse of a whole plant usually points to root rot from waterlogged soil.
Planting partners, pets and safety
Lavender edges a rose border beautifully and looks just as good among other dry garden plants such as nepeta, salvias, cistus and rosemary. For a gravel garden, combine it with low sedums and ornamental grasses, and browse our guide to the best drought-tolerant plants for UK gardens for more ideas.
The ASPCA lists lavender as mildly toxic to cats and dogs if eaten in quantity, mainly causing stomach upset, though most pets ignore the strongly scented foliage. It is not considered dangerous to people, and the dried flowers have long been used in sachets and baking.
Questions about Lavandula angustifolia, English lavender
When should I cut back English lavender?
Prune straight after flowering, usually in August, trimming off the spent stalks and a couple of centimetres of leafy growth. This lets the plant regrow before winter. Never cut back into brown wood with no leaves.
Can you revive a woody lavender plant?
Not reliably, because lavender seldom sprouts from old bare stems. You can try cutting a few stems back to just above the lowest green shoots, but a very leggy plant is best replaced with young plants grown from its cuttings.
What is the difference between English and French lavender?
English lavender, Lavandula angustifolia, is fully hardy in most UK gardens and has slender spikes on long stalks. French lavender, Lavandula stoechas, has chunky heads topped with petal-like bracts and is less tolerant of cold, wet winters. English lavender also has the sweeter scent preferred for drying.
Does English lavender grow well in pots?
Yes, compact varieties make lovely container plants for a sunny patio. Use a gritty, loam-based compost and a pot at least 30cm wide with good drainage holes. Water when the compost dries out and raise the pot on feet in winter.
Plant a row by the path this spring and you will have scent, colour and busy bees every summer for the best part of a decade. You can find English lavender among the other hardy, low-water plants in our shrubs collection.