Steps to Grow Lavender in Your Garden

By Ajanta Sen

Lavender is a renowned herb as well as a well-liked landscape. Growing lavender in garden is preferred by many because of its beautiful blossoms and soothing scent. This amazing herb is also popular because of its healing properties. You can plant lavender both outdoor and indoor. In either setting, this wonderful plant can flourish in the presence of sufficient sunlight and a little water.

Growing lavender herbs is not that difficult even if you are a layman. You just need to know that lavender grows best in a sunny, rocky and dry site if the soil contains sufficient lime in it. So make sure whatever fertilizer you intend to use, it must contain lime. Also remember that too much of moisture can kill your lavender plants, so avoid watering it too often.

The Best Soil Mix For Container Gardening

Growing lavender in your garden will not only add aroma and color to your garden but if you give it a bit of special care, it can even beautify your patio, entry or deck. Lavender herb growing conditions should be taken care of to grow lavender in your garden:

Growing Lavender In Garden | Growing Lavender Herb | Growing Lavender In Your Garden

Select A Lavender Pot
Firstly choose a pot for growing lavender in garden. The pot that you choose should be big enough to hold your plant. There should be minimum 8 inches all around the lavender plant so that it can grow nicely. Also give some additional soil for retaining water.

The color of the container should be light so that it can reflect the light of sun. Moreover, this will also help to keep your lavender plant cooler in hot surroundings.

Growing Lavender In Garden | Growing Lavender Herb | Growing Lavender In Your Garden

The pot that you select for growing lavender must be durable and robust. Glazed ceramics or “All-weather” woods never decay and hence they can be a perfect choice. Lastly make sure that your lavender pot must have a minimum half-inch hole at the bottom for drainage.

Growing Lavender In Garden | Growing Lavender Herb | Growing Lavender In Your Garden

Make Your Lavender Pot Ready
Choose a potting mix which is devoid of any soil. You can also mix water-retaining polymers to your potting mixture if you want to restrain watering. Don’t forget to add some lime into the mixture.

Growing Lavender In Garden | Growing Lavender Herb | Growing Lavender In Your Garden

Place Your Lavender Pot In A Permanent Location
The bigger the size of the pot, the bulkier it will be after filling it, so it is better to keep the pot in its final position and then prepare it. While growing lavender in garden, make sure your plant gets minimum 6 hours of daylight. Open and windy settings are not good for growing lavender, so choose a place which is sheltered and sun-drenched.

Growing Lavender In Garden | Growing Lavender Herb | Growing Lavender In Your Garden

Firstly, place a sheet of newspaper at the bottom of the pot without covering the drainage outlet. This paper will help to preserve the moisture and also insulate the plant from high temperature and cold. Disperse some small stones at the pot’s bottom for drainage purpose. Next, fill the three fourth portion of your pot with the previously prepared potting soil. Put your lavender plant at the pot’s center. Then fill up the pot with some soil up to a few inches of your pot’s top. Coat the plant nicely with the soil and compress it in position, also tap the soil well to get rid of the air pockets.Next, water your lavender pot carefully and check whether the water is going out from the drainage outlet. In order to retain the moisture of your plant, lay a half-inch mulch layer on top of soil.

Story first published: Wednesday, February 11, 2015, 17:46 [IST]
Read more about: gardening improvement