Latest Update 25th July 2016.
Lavender
- I grow lavender because its a beautiful plant with masses of fragrant purple flowers, and it attracts predatory insects keeping pests under control on the plant and helps control them in the nearby vegetable beds.
- Lavender prospers in Melbourne's hot dry summers, and It hums with busy insects when its sunny, especially the bees
- Its one of the easiest of plants to propagate from cuttings, and I regularly renew them when they get too big and cumbersome.
- The picture above taken in mid winter is one of my French Lavender plants. It flowers all year round and grows more vigorously than my English Lavender.
Details.
- Variety: English and French.
- Family Group: Lamiaceae.
- Garden bed type: Drip line irrigation.
- Recommended Soil pH. 6.5 - 7.5.
- Minimum Sun per Day: 3 hours.
- Plant Spacings (centres): 500mm (English). 800mm (French).
- Climate: Warm Temperate.
- Geography: Southern Hemisphere.
Growing Conditions:
- They prefer sandy soil but grow well in most soils.
- They grow well in hot dry conditions.
- Lavenders need well drained soil and full sun.
- If they are grown in shade they will grow out
towards the sunlight.
Soil Preparation.
- In
Spring, clear a space for Lavender by removing old mulch, dead leaves
and unwanted organic material. Choose a place where it has not been
grown for several years.
- Apply a 60mm thick top dressing of home made compost. Cover with organic straw mulch.
Growing Instructions.
- Lavender is a perennial plant, and I propogate it from softwood cuttings.
- Most people advise taking cuttings as new growth begins to appear in spring, but my propagator will grow new cuttings most times of the year, and I usually take cuttings in late autumn so I can plant them out in spring.
- Choose your strongest most vigorous plant as a source of cuttings.
- Take
cuttings from new shoots about 100mm long in spring. Cut the shoot
just below a node and remove the lower leaves leaving one pair of full
size leaves and the new shoot in place. Plant the cuttings about 60mm deep in a propagator.
- The propagator's microbial activity and constant soil moisture stimulates root growth, so I don't use rooting powder.
- Once the plant starts to grow vigorously, relocate it in the prepared soil in your herb bed.
- Water it in and apply a foliar spray of aerated compost tea every 4 weeks.
- If left to
its own devices a Lavender plant will become woody after a couple of
years, however, to
prevent this you should prune the plant regularly in spring before new
growth starts and again in late summer after flowers dry out. A well
maintained lavender plant will last at least 5 years before it needs to
be replaced. See demo.
Harvesting and Storage.
- I
grow lavender for their attractive foliage and flowers as bedding
plants in the garden. I don't usually harvest the flowers, but they
make beautiful fragrant cut flowers either in bloom or after they have
gone to seed.
Organic Pest Control.
- Slugs and snails.
- I grow my herbs in a drip irrigated raised bed, and run copper tape around it 100mm off the ground.
- Copper tape is a
very effective barrier as the slugs and snails get a small electric
shock when they come into contact with it, and they retreat to
less hostile surroundings.
- Occasionally
I get one or two juvenile snails in my raised beds. I believe they get
into the bed as eggs though the compost heap. When this happens, I use
a few iron chelate snail baits to round them up. These bates are
approved for use in organic gardens, but I only use the bare minimum to
do the job.
- Greenhouse whitefly.
- Aerated
compost tea improves the plants resistance to whitefly damage.
- Control any
infestations by spray your crop thoroughly with organic horticultural oil.
- Spray again in a few days
to ensure second generation whitefly do not survive.
- Aphids (greenfly).
- Use the same methods described above for whitefly.
-
General.
- Repeated foliar sprays of aerated compost tea should deter most airborne pests and diseases.
- Proper soil
preparation and regular applications of home made compost should control soil borne pests.
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