7 facts about lavender every gardener should know

Luckily for gardeners, lavender looks as good as it smells. But did you know that along with being versatile, it's also easy to grow in your garden for a flash of vibrant purple that's sure to draw attention. Here are seven things you should know about this delicately scented perennial.

[Image credit: iStock.com/SchmitzOlaf]

Lavender naturally possesses a neat, mounding form. It grows about as wide as it does tall.

• Compact types make an aromatic pathway edging and are even grown as lawns in arid regions. Larger types work well as a low hedge.

Although you can keep a single large mound as a specimen to feature in a flower border, you can also grow it equally as well in a pot or container.

Few plants will protest the presence of lavender planted nearby.

• Always plant lavender in a sunny, dry location. Heat helps release its fragrance.
• Grow it near fragrant roses for a double punch of perfume.
• You can pair it with aromatic creeping thyme or sweet-scented annuals, such as sweet alyssum.

If you thought all lavender was the same, you're in for a pleasant surprise.

• The most popular lavender, widely grown because it's moderately cold-hardy, is English lavender.
• Two excellent cultivars are the dark-purple-flowered 'Hidcote' and the medium-purple 'Munstead.'
• Called French or Spanish lavender, L. stoechas is hardy to Zone 8. It may survive in Zone 7 if it's planted in a place protected from winter wind, such as near a wall or building. The chances of survival skyrocket if you plant it in a greenhouse or keep it indoors during colder weather.
• Growing nearly one metre (three feet) tall, Spanish and French lavender produces flower spikes topped by tufted bracts in late spring and summer.

When it comes to care, lavender is not a fussy plant.

• Good drainage, lean soil, sun and heat will ensure success with lavender.
• Be stingy with fertilizer or you'll get leaves at the expense of flowers.
• Set out new plants in early spring.
• Clip off spent flowers to prolong the bloom time.

Just because you live in a colder region doesn't mean you can't enjoy lavender.

• Where lavender is not hardy, grow it in pots and bring them indoors for winter.
• Cut the plants back to half their size when you bring them inside in late fall. Keep them cool and dry through winter.
• Shift them back outdoors first thing in the spring.

In areas where lavender can be grown outdoors and under the right conditions, it will prosper flawlessly for years with little care beyond annual pruning.

• Wait until spring to trim back old stems. This will shelter the plant's roots and low buds through winter.

It's easy to ensure you have a steady source of lavender in the garden for years to come. The best way to propagate lavender? Simply root 15 cm-long (six-inch) stem cuttings.

• First, take the cuttings from plants in the late summer.
• Next, remove leaves from the lower half of the stems.
• Lastly, dip the cut ends into rooting powder and put them in damp sand up to half their length.
• Cuttings root in about six weeks.

For gardeners, lavender is the perfect blend of scent and looks, a great plant to grow either in flower beds or containers because it requires so little care. Small wonder the clean, refreshing fragrance of lavender is one of the most popular scents in the world!