HOW ABOUT 



Lavender is the "Herb of the 

 Year" for 1999. One of the 

 plants that most often comes to 

 mind when we think of herb gar- 

 dens, it's a wonderful choice. We 

 think of Victorian women and 

 their Yardley's Lavender soap; we 

 think of lavender and old lace for 

 weddings; and nowadays, with 

 herbs in the forefront of many 

 gardens, we think of ways to use 

 lavender in the landscape. 



Lavender originated around the 

 Mediterranean Sea and is still exten- 

 sively grown there. It's cultivated in 

 many other parts of the world as 

 well. It has a mounded habit, gray- 

 green foliage, and spike-like wands 

 of flowers usually in varying shades 

 of blue. There are over twenty-five 

 varieties of the Lavandula genus 

 and, even here in our chilled New 

 Hampshire soils, there are lavenders 

 that will grow exceedingly well. 

 Here at the Urban Forestry Center 

 in Portsmouth, there is a sweep of 

 lavender that I grew from seeds 

 nearly twenty years ago. It began its 

 reign in the formal herb garden, but 

 outgrew its border in about ten 

 years. Unable to simply dig it up 

 and discard it, we transplanted the 

 huge plants to a sunny meadow 

 spot. And it grew — more magnifi- 

 cently than ever! It's still there, call- 

 ing the bees for miles around, pro- 

 viding a harvest for sachets, bou- 

 quets, and potpourris, and giving 

 pleasure to all who visit. 



So my experience has been best 

 with the English lavender. 



Lavandula angustifolia, but many 

 other lavenders can be successfully 

 grown in New England. The 

 lavandins (L.x intermedia) are sterile 

 hybrids of L. angustifolia and the 

 tender L. spica. Both are hardy to 

 Zone 5 and are valued for the qual- 

 ity of their essential oils as well as 

 for their visual appeal. We've suc- 

 cessfully grown the Hidcote cultivar, 

 the Munstead, and we've tried the 

 new Lady Lavender, which is sup- 

 posed to bloom in its very first year. 

 Ours did, but it has taken awhile 

 for it to reach much size and is still 

 not as magnificent as the trans- 

 planted border in the meadow. 



All this suggests one of the se- 

 crets of growing lavender: it must 

 have full sun. I've read of lavender 

 growing successfully with as little as 

 four hours of sunlight a day, but 

 I've yet to see it. 



A neutral to slightly alkaline 

 soil is best, so here in New Hamp- 

 shire, plan on adding lime to the 

 bed when you first prepare it and 

 each year after. A pH of 6.4 to 8 

 is optimal. 



Excellent drainage is also crucial. 

 Don't even think about lavender if 

 you have clay soil or soggy condi- 

 tions. Go for raised beds if you 

 need to. 



At the Cape Cod Lavender Farm 

 (six wonderful acres overlooking Is- 

 land Pond in Harwich), one can see 

 over 10,000 lavender plants and 

 learn some tricks of lavender grow- 

 ing. One that impressed me was the 

 "mulch" of white sand around each 



plant and along the production 

 rows. The sand keeps the weeds 

 down and reflects the light and heat 

 up into the plant, perhaps replicat- 

 ing the Mediterranean climate that 

 these plants like. June is the best 

 time to visit. (If interested, see their 

 web site at www.capecod.net/laven- 

 der or call 508-432-8397.) 



Good air circulation is also a 

 must. Space the plants two-to-three 

 feet apart and avoid putting them 

 too close to other plants or build- 

 ings. Clear out accumulated leaves 

 and debris and thin out the 

 branches of the more densely grow- 

 ing bushes. Prune old hard wood in 

 the spring to promote new growth. 

 Water is important in the early part 

 of the season, but mature plants are 

 more able to tolerate dry conditions. 



Propagation by layering low- 

 growing branches is very easy. I let 

 the baby plants grow a full year be- 

 fore cutting them from the mother 

 plants and transplanting them else- 

 where. As I mentioned, I had good 

 luck with seed from a simple pack- 

 age of English lavender. I needed 75 

 plants for my planned border — I 

 succeeded in growing 110. I started 

 them under lights in my basement, 

 grew them on for a year in my back 

 yard; from there they went to the 

 herb garden and eventually to the 

 meadow. Easy! And well worth the 

 effort — this year or any other. 



Tanya Jackson, a well-known area 

 herbalist, can be reached at 6o}-4ii- 

 8oii. 



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