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    Wednesday, October 3, 2012

    How to Grow Lavender

    When we harvested our fall bounty from the two raised vegetable beds in the back yard we ended up with about half a salad!
    Seriously, between a little bit of weird weather at the start of the season, and the rouge neighborhood cats digging up just about everything we planted I am completely discouraged and honestly fed up!

    After our bounitful harvest of half a salad, I decided that with our very limited space it just wasn't worth it for us to grow our own vegetables. That dream will be put on the backburner, saved for  a larger yard, and electric fence ;).

    So we had to decide, pull up the beds and add grass, or add something else. It was between planting bulbs and using it as a cutting garden, great for spring but not much to look at for summer, winter and fall!
    The decision was LAVENDER!!!
     I LOVE lavender! I love the smell, I love the color, I love the smell (it's so great it deserved to be mentioned twice).  Another big bonus was that our retractable laundry line runs right above it for some natural scenting.
    We planted the lavender at the start of September and I have never seen more butterflies in our backyard! It's like a regular sanctuary back there. But my favorite part would have to be the SMELL, I water the back garden at night and as soon as the water hits the lavender it's amazing! The night air fills with scent! I don't want to get all poetic about it but seriously, "It smells good at Night" haha.

    They've already grown so much in one month! Here's some growing tips we've gleaned from everyone from my mother to E-How.
    • Lavender needs full sun and well-drained soil. Where soil drains poorly, grow lavender in raised beds. Set full-size varieties 3 to 4 feet apart, dwarf types 18 inches apart (ours are dwarf and I plan on replanting some on the other side of our house when they get too big). 
    • Mix in some with decomposed granite or gravel, not compost. 
    • Water deeply but infrequently, when the soil is almost dry. 
    • Lavender require little or no fertilizer. 
    •  Prune every year immediately after bloom. Cut back 2- to 4-foot-tall varieties by a third, low-growing types by 2 to 4 inches. If you won't be harvesting the blooms of repeat performers, such as Spanish lavender, cut off faded flowers to keep new ones coming. 
    And that's about it! So far so good.

    We are both enjoying the smell so much, we're thinking window boxes outside all the bedroom windows!! :) 
    Posted by Maillardville Manor at 4:17 AM
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    Labels: Gardening, Outdoors

    10 comments:

    1. AmandaOctober 3, 2012 at 4:37 AM

      They're beautiful, and I always love anything that makes my yard smell good! I love the idea of window boxes!!

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    2. Jule aus 9BOctober 3, 2012 at 5:00 AM

      I have lavender in our backyard too and it goes well with roses. We also have them in the window boxes outside our daughter's rooms. You can dry the blossoms and keep them in your dresser or on your nightstand. We LOVE it!
      Jule from inside 9B

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    3. AnonymousOctober 3, 2012 at 6:06 AM

      Will you be bringing any in for the winter months to grow?
      You shouldn't give up on the vegetable garden. It usually takes about 1-2 years to get the soil just right for the vegetables to grow. You also need to know which vegetables grows best beside another. My husband grows vegetables in the backyard (we live in Brampton, Ontario) and the first year there wasn't much, but now... wow! I've started to research how to can and/or freeze my vegetables.

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    4. LisaOctober 3, 2012 at 6:09 AM

      I grow lavender and also love the scent and the blooms! I am wondering if you sewed the slipcovers on your dining room chairs? I love the fabric choice and the tailored look with the covered buttons. Might be doing something similar in my kitchen soon. Please share the details! Thanks!

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    5. BetsyOctober 3, 2012 at 7:09 AM

      We were having problems with cats in our garden and a friend recommended lavender. All our morning surprises have been replaced with butterflies. It worked like a charm. We lined them up our walk coming into the house and enjoy the smell each time we go in and out.

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    6. Simply LKJOctober 3, 2012 at 9:18 AM

      I love lavender. We planted a bit in our garden as well.

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    7. Laura OrdinaryOctober 3, 2012 at 9:46 AM

      I feel your pain! I felt like the worst gardener on the planet this year. I started out so hopeful: I bought my heirloom tomato seeds, I found organic tuscan kale, and had dreams of the pumpkin pie I was going to make for Thanksgiving with homegrown pumpkins. Then, something started to eat the kale. I tried this recipe where you add cayenne pepper and it will deter the bugs. No, I turned my garden into a spicy taco salad. The bugs LOVED it. My kale looked like little green twigs. My pumpkins and squash developed powder mildew and promptly died. I got a grand total of 6 tomatoes. I felt like my garden was where good plants came to die. So there, you can say you're a better gardener than me!

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    8. LesleyOctober 3, 2012 at 1:00 PM

      I love the idea of lavender in window boxes so when you have the windows open in the summer the scent will waft in!

      I am so sad for everyone's vegetables this year. I tried container gardening vegetables for the first time this year, and had wonderful luck with cucumbers, boston lettuce, sweet million cherry tomatoes, red shepherd peppers, fingerling carrots and radishes. We are in downtown Toronto, so containers were really our only option. I found an article online for container vegetables, specific varietals were provided and went an bought the ones recommended. I hope I can repeat the magic next year.

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    9. LisaOctober 4, 2012 at 8:21 AM

      I love lavender but mine always die out during the winter.

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    10. LorieROctober 4, 2012 at 7:24 PM

      Beautiful lavender plants! Other than enjoy their beauty and scent, do you have any plans for the lavender?

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