Arctic Snow Lavender Plants

Lavandula angustifolia Arctic Snow Hedge Plants

Arctic Snow English lavender is a lovely scented, low-growing shrub for informal hedging. A hardy evergreen with silver-grey leaves and tall flowering spikes covered in richly perfumed pure-white flowers in late summer, it's great for bees and other pollinators. The foliage is also fragrant. Clipped back by a third after flowering, its dense, rounded habit provides structure and interest all year round, even over the winter months.

The plants on this page are perfect for using as low hedging, or as year-round structure in beds and borders. You can see our other varieties of lavender here.

Delivery season: This is weather dependent. At present we expect to have plants ready from the end of April onwards, but if the weather is cold dates can slip into May. There is nothing to be gained from trying to plant lavender out before nighttime temperatures rise consistently as the shock simply sets it back, and it establishes more slowly and flowers less well than lavender planted when everything is warmer. The smallest lavenders, in P9 pots, are never shipped before May in any event. If you are not happy with these potentially uncertain timings, please order elsewhere: we guarantee our plants and like to see them do well...

Choosing a size: Small plants are cheaper and overall more convenient for hedge use unless instant impact is your priority. If you are buying only a few plants for ornamental use, then you may as well use bigger ones. All our hedge plants are measured by their height in centimetres above the ground (the roots aren't measured).

Features:

• Evergreen.
• White highly perfumed summer flowers, rounded year-round structure.
• Hardy to -15C.
• Well-drained soil in full sun.
• Lovely scented hedging that attracts bees.
• Max. Height: 50cm
• Perfect for pollinators

Growing Arctic Snow Lavender

Lavender will grow on most soils as long as it's not in any way waterlogged. If yours is heavy, dig in plenty of horticultural grit or sharp sand before planting, as lavender hates to sit in wet soil in winter. And it's best to wait until the soil is warm to plant, or plants can sulk and be slow to get growing. As always with lavender, a spot in full sun is essential.

A good pruning regime is vital for all lavender plants. And this means cutting back the entire plant by about a third soon after flowering (or two-thirds if you count the height put on by the flowering spikes), in late August or early September, removing all of the flowered spikes to low-growing shoots. A sharp pair of shears is the tool for the job, taking care not to cut back into old wood, however, or lavender won't regrow from those spots. Get it right, and you'll have a lovely neat (not leggy) silvery hedge to look at over winter, with a hint of glaucous green from a touch of autumn growth. You'll get around 30cm of growth each year, with an 80cm tall hedge when in flower.

Spacing an Arctic Snow hedge: Plant at 3 plants per metre, 33cm apart, for a really nice tight hedge. You can definitely get away with 45cm apart without reducing the fullness noticeably, given a few more years to mature.

Good in your garden

Of course, you can grow lavender plants as individual specimens, dotted among a perennial border, giving structure in winter, as well as phenomenal scent and bee pulling power in summer. But where lavender really shines is as a hedge, where you can brush past and release the rich, lingering perfume, evocative of sizzling holidays in the south of France. Plant it either side of a path, where it will soften the edges dreamily with its billowing spikes of scented flowers. It works well as an alternative to box, too, in a knot garden or parterre, enclosing either a vegetable patch, spring bulbs, summer roses or any other perennial planting combination. Use alongside the more traditional rich purple varieties of lavender for a pretty juxtaposition; or plant alongside hardy geraniums, phlox, gaura, penstemons, valerian and lupins to create a heavenly cottage-garden look.

Did you know?

Angustifolia is the English form of lavender, meaning simply 'narrow leaf'. It was also known as Lavandula officinalis (which refers to its belonging to a storeroom as a medicinal plant). The word is common among medicinal and useful herbs (Salvia, Pulmonaria, Rosmarinus, Borago, Hyssopus all share that botanical epithet 'officinalis'). Angustifolia is also called 'true' lavender, and is the most reliable in our British weather.

It was the Romans who introduced lavender to Britain, using the flowers to scent and wash themselves (lavender is from the Latin lavare, to wash). Later, it was used as a nosegay on London streets to mask the stench of everyday life. By the 17th century, many houses had rooms where essences were distilled for use by the household.

Queen Victoria demanded lavender in everything from wood polish to bath water and laundry soap. At the height of its popularity in the Victorian era, Hitchin growers Perks and Llewellyn were cultivating over 100 acres of lavender.

The silvery sheen of lavender is a common and effective adaptation that protects the plant from extreme heat by reflecting the rays of the sun. This is also true of slim, fine leaves, which lose less water from evaporation.

Lavender's uses are well documented as a salve for stress and insomnia, even as a treatment for post-surgery pain, although there's no scientific evidence to prove its efficacy. However, there's no denying its clean, refreshing scent, which, dried and stuffed into linen pillows, has been lining undies drawers for centuries. Update this classic to a bunch of lavender and eucalyptus prunings – hung strategically in the shower cubicle it will lend a spa-like scent and relaxation to your ablutions. Whale music optional.

The scent of true angustifolia lavender and hybrid lavandin is quite different: the former is relaxing and soothing (so use the oils in your bath, or on your pillow), and the latter is stimulating and energising – a result of the camphor content in its oil, which also makes lavandin better for insect repellants, candles and pot pourri.

Flowers & Bees: In July and August, plants produce dense spikes of small, white, open-lipped, highly perfumed flowers. These are pollinated by bees and other butterflies; it's an RHS Plants for Pollinators listed shrub.