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Tag: Shrubs>Lavender

Garden Plants
October 16, 2025 · Julian de Bosdari

Lavender Diseases and Pests — Common Problems and How to Treat Them

Lavender has an undeserved reputation for being disease-free — but it isn't, and one problem in particular kills far more plants than gardeners realise. While its aromatic oils do offer some natural protection, lavender can still fall victim to Alfalfa Mosaic Virus, Shab dieback disease, sap-sucking froghoppers and capsids, and — the real culprit behind most losses — root rot from poor drainage. This guide explains how to spot each problem, which ones are usually harmless, and why getting the drainage right is the single most important thing standing between your lavender and an unexplained collapse after a wet winter.

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Garden Plants
October 16, 2025 · Julian de Bosdari

How to Grow Lavender

There are three groups of lavender grown in UK gardens. English lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) is the hardiest, longest-lived, and best-scented — the right choice for most gardens, hedging, and cooking. Dutch lavender (Lavandula × intermedia) is larger, later-flowering, and has a more complex camphor scent prized for oils. French butterfly lavender (Lavandula stoechas) is the showiest but least hardy — best grown in a pot you can bring under cover in winter. Drainage and an annual hard prune in August are the two things that most determine how long any lavender lasts.

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Garden Plants
October 16, 2025 · Julian de Bosdari

How to Prune Lavender

Lavender is the most underpruned plant in the UK — and it's costing gardeners years of good growth. Most people give their lavender a nervous little trim with the kitchen scissors, terrified of cutting into brown wood. The result? A hedge that goes scrawny within a couple of years and needs replacing in four or five, when it should easily last fifteen to twenty. This guide breaks down the "three eights" rule, why English, Dutch, and French lavender all need pruning at completely different times of year, and how to tell the difference between wood that will regrow and wood that won't. Don't be afraid to cut hard — it's the single most important thing you can do for your lavender's longevity.

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Garden Plants
October 16, 2025 · Julian de Bosdari

Is Lavender Native to the UK?

Despite the name, English lavender isn't actually English — so how did a Mediterranean plant become one of the most quintessentially British garden fixtures? Lavender arrived with the Romans over 1,500 years ago, spread through monastery gardens by the medieval period, and became a fixture of English kitchen gardens by the 17th century. This guide traces that journey — from Roman bathwater to the perfumed lavender fields of Norfolk and Surrey — and explains why "English lavender" refers not to where the plant is from, but to the variety bred and selected over centuries to thrive in Britain's cold, damp winters.

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Garden Plants
October 16, 2025 · Julian de Bosdari

Differences between English, Dutch, and French Butterfly Lavenders

English, Dutch, and French — three lavenders, three very different personalities, and choosing the wrong one for your garden is an easy mistake to make. English Lavender is the toughest and best-scented, happy as a hedge in almost any UK soil. Dutch Lavender (Lavandin) is bigger, bolder, and carries the camphor-edged scent found in soaps and candles. French Lavender is the showiest, with its distinctive "rabbit ears," but it hates wet feet and does best in a pot you can move under cover for winter. Drawing on twenty years of growing all three, this guide breaks down which lavender suits which spot in your garden — for hedging, pots, cooking, oil, or simply the best display — and clears up the real differences in hardiness, scent, and flowering season along the way.

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Garden Plants
October 16, 2025 · Julian de Bosdari

Harvesting Lavender Flowers

Harvest lavender at the wrong moment and you'll lose either the scent or the shape — timing is everything, and it's different depending on what you're making. For oil, wait until first bloom starts to fade, when the flowers hold the most oil. For dried bunches, pick earlier, while half the buds are still closed, so the heads stay intact. And the "best" variety isn't one-size-fits-all: Grosso leads for oil, Hidcote is the standout for drying and moth-proof lavender bags, and Munstead is unbeatable in the kitchen. This guide covers exactly when and how to harvest for each purpose.

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Garden Plants
October 16, 2025 · Julian de Bosdari

Lavender Plants are Safe for Cats & Dogs

Worried about your lavender hedge around cats or dogs? You can stop worrying — the plant itself is one of the safest things growing in your garden. There's a real distinction between the lavender you grow outside and the concentrated essential oil sold in bottles, and the two get conflated far too often. This guide sets the record straight on what's actually safe, where the genuine caution around lavender oil comes from, and why, despite decades of keeping dogs of every temperament, not one has ever so much as nibbled at the lavender.

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