Lavender Plant Care

Lavenders are marvelous and sweet-smelling flowers. There are mainly three types of lavender - English, Spanish and French. All these varieties find their use in one way or the other in fields ranging from cooking to medicine. The English lavender plant is known for its essential oil, which is famous for its antiseptic properties and its ability to reduce inflammation. The lavender essential oil is used in skin creams, soaps, talcum powder, shampoos, perfumes, and even fabrics. It adds a special flavor to herbal tea. It is well known to relieve insomnia, depression, anxiety and mood disorders. Though not useful on the medicinal front, the Spanish lavender plant is a popular choice in landscaping. French lavender is used in making syrup, popularly known as French Lavender Syrup. Lavender scones are generally made from dried lavender buds. Lavender plant care starts right from nurturing it as a seedling, till it blooms profusely. Let's start with the former part.

Instructions for Growing Lavender: Like any other flowering plant, lavender needs your help at least in the initial stages of its growth and development. Once its root and shoot systems are fully grown, it sustains its life on its own. Following are the instructions on how to care for lavender plant.

• Lavender can be grown from seeds. You can get lavender seedlings from any nursery. It takes approximately six months for the plant to grow. Lavender needs, at a minimum, eight hours of sunlight. Therefore, choose the area for your plant accordingly.
• Loose and well-watered soil is suitable for growing lavender. Dig the soil, and remove weeds, rocks and debris. Lavender plants need a large space for their big root system. The soil need to be worked to a depth of six inches.
• Increase the fertility of the soil by adding compost manure. Fertilizers, when less in quantity, increase the concentration of oils. An alkaline solution would aid the promotion of high fragrance.
• It is advisable to first grow lavender in a pot. After a few weeks, shift it to well-worked soil. Loose soil will allow the seedlings plenty of space to spread out their roots and grow.
• Cover the seedlings firmly and carefully with loose soil. Keep enough space between the seedlings to ensure sufficient circulation of air and disease-free growth.
• Experts use a trick to promote heat retention. They cover the plants with a layer of sand. A little high heat is required for more fragrant blooms. It is recommendable to water the plants well and frequently in the initial stage. When the plants are watered well in the first year of their growth, they require little care later and can survive even under dry conditions. You would need to water them only when the heat is extreme.

Lavender Plant Care: All the species of lavender plants are nurtured in almost the way but a few varieties such as French and Spanish lavender plants need a little different formulation of all the basic requirements for their growth. Following are some tips on how to care for lavender plants.

• Make sure you regularly water the plants. Also make use of compost manure. This would prevent yellowing of the plants. In case there is an occurrence of yellowing, add a diluted mixture of fish emulsion and liquid sea kelp.
• Never over-water though. On over-watering, the plants develop a brown base. This an indication to reduce the quantity of water.
• Cut one-third of leafage in spring. When there is an appearance of new growth, leave it for a month or two. Cut half of the new foliage. This would aid the lavender to put on new bushy growth throughout, especially at the base.
• Spent flower stems would keep depositing on the plant. Make it a point to cut them regularly and whenever required. If you don't, the plant would grow woody and out of shape. The plants would split down the middle.
• Avoid cutting the woody branches in order to bring the plants in shape. This might result in the death of the plants. A better option is to remove the flowers at the end of each bloom cycle.
• If the plants are ruined and cannot be saved and you have to replace them, wait for the fall. Winter is the best season to replace them.

Spanish Lavender Plant Care: Spanish lavender plants need hot and humid climate to grow well. During spring season, Spanish lavender blossoms abundantly with dark purple color. Soon after it, prune it well. It will result in an attractive shrub, full of fragrance and gray-green color.

French Lavender Plant Care: For the sound growth and development of French lavender plants, the soil needs to be richer. They require more water and strong sunlight. If the recommended amount is not available to French lavender plants, they will still sprout but will grow slowly. Continuous cutting will ensure propagation of the shrub.

By going through all the tips for lavender plant care, you now know that it is actually easy and you need almost nothing to care for lavender plants. The number of benefits you derive in return from all the species of lavender plants is much more than what you will spend on them.