If your lavender plant isn't flowering, don't give up on growing it just yet. These herbaceous perennials are a joy in the garden and it's actually quite easy to learn how to grow lavender and enjoy your plant for many years to come.
Like all plants though, lavender requires you to understand where it comes from and what it needs to thrive in order for it to reach full bloom.
Thankfully, the reasons why it's failing aren't too difficult to fix and in general, experts say it comes down to three things – all of which you can easily resolve.
1. You're not pruning it enough
This is nearly always the number one reason why a lavender plant isn't flowering.
"Unpruned plants become leggy and woody and lose flowers," confirms Julian Palphramand, head of plants at British Garden Centres. "Many people cut into the woody part and kill the entire stem, but you need to cut above the new growth.
"Trim lightly right after flowering, removing about a third of the growth above the soft green shoots, never into old wood," he advises.
Pruning lavender is very easy, and according to Monty Don, should be done as soon as the flowers start to fade. Avoid leaving them to go brown in order to allow more time for regrowth before winter.
Gardening tools to help you care for your lavender
These razor sharp secateurs are perfect for pruning lavender to help it flower more successfully.
This set of tools is perfect for planting new lavender or using if you need to relocate your plants to a new spot.
Tend to your lavender in comfort with this handy kneeling pad and tool bag all-in-one.
Julian Palphramand is Head of Plants at British Garden Centres. His expertise lies in horticulture with a passion for fostering a love of plants.
2. You have the wrong soil type
Lavender has quite specific soil requirements – alkaline, infertile, and free-draining. In other words, if you have chalky, thin soil, it's perfect for lavender. The mistake people often make is adding organic matter or synthetic fertiliser to the soil where they grow their lavender.
"Lavender won’t flower in rich or wet soil," explains Julian Palphramand. "The lavender doesn't need it, so won't produce flowers. Or, if it does, the flowers will be sickly and not fragrant.
"Heavy, clay ground needs grit," he continues, "or use a container with a free-draining mix."
"I always mix in plenty of horticultural grit to multipurpose peat-free compost when growing lavender in pots," says Beth Murton, editor of Homebuilding & Renovating. "It helps to improve the drainage and prevents the soil from becoming waterlogged. I've found the easiest way to get the right balance of compost and grit is to mix the soil with the grit (around 25 per cent in terms of volume) in a wheelbarrow before filling my garden planter with it."
This Melcourt RHS potting grit from Crocus can be used to improve drainage for lavender and also works well for other plants such as alpines, succulents and cacti.
This variety of lavender will grow equally as well in containers as it will in garden borders as long as you have the right kind of soil.
3. Your lavender is in the wrong spot in the garden
Where you plant your lavender is also integral to the success of it flowering.
"Lavender handles heat well; in a heatwave, the real danger is overwatering, not drought," says Julian Palphramand. "Think Mediterranean: full sun, excellent drainage, and only water when the soil is truly dry."
Lavender needs at least six hours a day of sunlight to produce its fragrant blooms, so the rules are simple, he continues. "Don’t plant it under trees or in shade, as it will not flower. It needs a spot that really gets baked with sunshine throughout the day with good airflow – but not too windy."
It often works best as part of Mediterranean garden ideas that typically include some kind of an enclosure. Plant it in a sunny, sheltered spot, preferably against a sunny wall or in a garden border that gets constant sunshine throughout the day.
Julian Palphramand's final advice? Check the age and type of lavender you are currently growing, or thinking of planting.
"Young plants may not bloom until their second or third year, and some varieties are simply too fussy for cooler, wetter UK areas," he says.
Thinking of using lavender to help zone your garden? Find out what there is to know about using lavender for hedges, or consider how to make it a key feature in your cottage garden ideas.
The original version of this article previously appeared on Gardeningetc, a sister website to Homebuilding & Renovating.
