How to Plant Lavender: Lavender Plant Care and Pruning

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Plant lavender after your last spring frost, or in fall if about two months of good weather remain. Give it full sun and light, fast-draining soil, leave 18 to 24 inches between plants in a garden bed, and generally water once or twice a week until roots take hold. Damp soil kills more lavender than cold does.

Lavender is a semi-woody perennial from the Mediterranean and a member of the mint family. It asks for little once settled, but the details matter: which type you plant, how wet its roots stay in winter and where you cut when you prune. Below, ten extension guides compared, with the points where they disagree.

Lavender at a glance

When to plant	After the last spring frost; in fall, with about 2 months of good weather left and well-rooted plants
Sun	Full sun: at least 6 hours of direct sun a day
Soil	Dry, sandy or gravelly and fast-draining; pH 6.5 to 7.5, neutral to alkaline
Spacing	18 to 24 inches in a garden bed; 2 to 3 feet in a field row
Size	About 1 to 2 feet tall and 1 to 3 feet wide, full size in 3 years; lavandins generally larger
Hardiness	English lavender zones 5 to 9; Spanish lavender zones 8 to 9
Prune	Every year, never into bare wood; in spring, right after bloom, or in late fall in mild-winter California (guides differ)
Harvest	In the morning, once the first flowers on the spike open (up to about half open, for drying)
Pets	Listed as toxic to dogs, cats and horses (see below)

When to plant lavender

Plant lavender in spring once the last frost has passed, or in fall where about two months of good weather remain for roots to grow. Fall plantings grow slowly and may not survive winter without good roots and a heavy mulch. Your area's average date, on our ZIP code frost dates page, is a guide, not a planting day.

Fall planting: the guides differ. Some plant from spring through fall, or call spring and fall the ideal times to plant. In research at Alcalde, New Mexico, fall-planted lavender survived better, rooted faster and flowered more the next season. For fall, set out plants from 4-inch or larger pots with established roots, and in Colorado keep watering fall plantings through winter.

In our reading, the split follows climate: where winters are wet or harsh, spring planting gives a new plant a whole season to root before its first cold, wet months.

How much sun and what soil does lavender need?

Lavender needs full sun and soil that drains fast. Full sun means a minimum of 6 hours of direct sun, and 6 hours of direct sun plus good drainage are the two most important things at planting. With too little sun, lavender can flower less, turn leggy and become more prone to disease.

Soil type and pH. English lavender grows in dry, sandy soil that drains well, at pH 6.5 to 7.5, and prefers neutral to alkaline ground; it dies out in heavy clay. It also likes rocky, dry and sunny places with plenty of lime in the soil.

Where the guides disagree: compost.

• Add compost. Work 1 inch of coarse compost 4 to 8 inches into the soil to open it up and improve drainage.
• Keep organic matter low. Another view wants soil with very little organic matter. To loosen heavy ground, till in 1 inch of small, quarter-inch bark mulch 6 to 8 inches deep; sand or gravel added to clay can make drainage worse.
• Compost plus grit. Mix compost into the soil along with something gritty, lava rock or perlite.

In our reading, all three aim at the same thing: fast drainage around the roots. Start from your own soil, and if it is heavy clay, use the mound or raised-bed fix below.

Drainage: why lavender dies in wet soil

Wet roots, more than cold, are what kill lavender, and soil that stays wet over winter shortens a plant's life. Humid summers with poor airflow between plants add to the decline. Lavender is one of the herbs that cannot tolerate wet feet.

Test your drainage. Dig a test hole 1 foot deep and fill it, let it empty, refill it and time the second fill. If the water drops less than 2 inches an hour, drainage is poor.

How to fix heavy soil:

• Raise it. Plant on a mound or in a raised bed so water runs away from the crown. A gravel mulch on a raised bed helps drainage further.
• Plant high. Set the crown at least 1 inch above the soil line.
• Mulch with stone. Rock or pea gravel helps keep the crown dry, and light mulches of bark or gravel hold down weeds. Another option is 2 to 3 inches of pea gravel, decomposed granite or sand, kept 6 inches back from the stems.
• Give it room. Space plants so air moves between them and the leaves dry.
• Or use a pot. Where drainage is poor, a container is another way around it.

How to plant lavender, step by step

1. Pick the spot. Full sun, the fastest drainage you have, and room to grow: expect about 1 to 2 feet of height and 1 to 3 feet of spread, and 3 years to reach full size.
2. Dig wide. Dig a hole with three times the room of the root ball, and backfill with native soil where you can.
3. Set it high. Keep the crown at least an inch above the surrounding soil.
4. Space it. In a garden, leave 18 to 24 inches between plants. For a field crop, plants go 2 to 3 feet apart in the row, by variety size.
5. Mulch and keep weeds down while plants establish, since lavender does not compete well with weeds.
6. Water it in and keep watering through the first season, as the next section explains.

What to plant with lavender

Pair lavender with other plants that like it dry. Low-water companions include gaillardia, salvias, echinacea, daylilies, rudbeckia and iris. For vegetables and herbs, see our companion planting chart.

Which lavender to grow: hardiness by type

Choose by your winter low and your summer humidity. English lavender is the cold-hardy type; lavandins are generally larger hybrids; Spanish and French lavenders suit hot, mild places but not hard winters. A USDA hardiness zone is based on the average yearly coldest winter temperature, in 10-degree F steps, so it tells you what is likely to survive your winter, not when to plant.

Lavender types and hardiness

Type	USDA zones	Notes
English lavender (Lavandula angustifolia)	5 to 9; hardy to zone 5	Suits most of Utah outside the coldest mountain areas; the most familiar lavender, and the least suited to Southern heat
Lavandin (Lavandula x intermedia)	5 to 8	A bit less hardy than its parents, and needs mulch where winters reach zero degrees; among the choices for hot climates; usually blooms once, later in summer
Spanish lavender (Lavandula stoechas)	8 to 9	More fragile than common lavender; an excellent choice among lavenders for hot Southern climates; not cold hardy in colder zones, where it is grown as an annual
French lavender (Lavandula dentata)	Not given in USDA zones	Among the lavenders that take a hot climate; fringed, deeply toothed leaves

Zones as rated for each type. For lavender in general, ratings run from zone 5 to zone 9 or 10, and tolerance can vary by species. Names vary too: "French lavender" is used both for Lavandula dentata and as another common name for Lavandula stoechas, so check the botanical name on the tag.

Varieties to look for. 'Munstead' and 'Hidcote' are recommended English lavenders. In three years of extension trials in Missouri, six cultivars did well: 'Munstead', 'Hidcote', 'Dutch Mill', 'Grosso', 'Phenomenal' and 'Provence'; Spanish varieties did not survive the winters there. The lavandin 'Phenomenal' stands up well to heat and humidity, and 'Provence' is noted for humid conditions.

Hot, humid summers. In hot, humid parts of the South, English lavender is short-lived, and 3 or 4 productive years counts as lucky, while Spanish lavender thrives. Some of the lavenders suited to hot climates are lavandins such as 'Dutch', 'Provence' and 'Grosso', plus Spanish and French lavender.

How often to water lavender

As a rule, water new lavender once or twice a week until it is established, then sparingly; it is drought tolerant once rooted, but never wants soggy soil. One guide generally gives 1 gallon per plant per week after planting. Water mature plants every 2 to 3 weeks until flower buds form (1/2 gallon every 2 weeks, in that guide), then once or twice a week until harvest.

• Water the soil, not the leaves. Water at the base, preferably by drip, and allow the soil to dry between waterings; too much water can invite root rot.
• Winter. In Colorado, don't let the root zone dry out over winter.
• Feed lightly. Lavender needs little: an inch of compost under the plants is enough, and overfed plants grow more leaves and fewer flowers. Too much nitrogen also cuts bloom and can make stems flop.

How to prune lavender

Prune lavender every year, cutting back the green, leafy growth by about a third, or up to half, and never into the bare wood at the base. Lavender flowers on new growth, and woody stems at the base will not sprout new leaves, so a cut below the green can leave a stub that never regrows.

When to prune: the guides disagree.

• Spring. Prune as new green leaves appear at the base, removing about a third of the top, or wait for new growth in spring and skip any fall cutback. Lavandin is trimmed in spring too, since fall trimming spurs soft new shoots that winter can kill.
• After flowering. Prune every year after bloom and shear the plant back by half. Or deadhead and shape it after flowering, which can bring more flowers, and in the mid-Atlantic stop pruning after mid-August; in spring, remove only winter damage, dead tips and old flower spikes.
• Fall, in mild-winter California. Lavender may be pruned hard in late fall, but never into bare wood. Another schedule shapes in early spring, tidies after the first bloom and makes its deepest cut, a third to a half of the green growth, in fall, leaving at least two nodes above the woody stems.

In our reading, timing follows winter: where it is cold, prune in spring or right after bloom, so no soft new growth meets a freeze.

How to make the cut:

1. Find small green buds or leaves low on each stem; cut just above them.
2. Take off spent flower stalks and about a third of the leafy growth, shaping a rounded mound.
3. Leave green growth on every stem: cutting lavender back severely can kill it.
4. Start on young plants in their second year and repeat each year, so they do not turn woody and split open.

Spanish and French lavender need a lighter hand. Shear Spanish lavender lightly after summer bloom; it does not tolerate being cut to the ground, which can kill it.

When and how to harvest lavender

Harvest lavender on a dry morning, after the dew is off. Most of these guides cut once the first flowers on the spike open, when the scent is strongest; others wait until about a quarter to half of the flowers are open. Cut early in the day, before the heat drives off the oils.

When to cut lavender for drying: the range

Stage	Cut when
First flowers	The first flowers on the spike open; for drying, once two are open
A quarter open	About 25 percent of the flowers are open
Half open	About half (50 percent) of the buds are open

In the first year, clip off the flower stems so young plants branch out instead of blooming.

How to dry lavender

1. Cut the stems as long as you can.
2. Bundle them with rubber bands, which tighten as the stems shrink.
3. Hang small bunches upside down somewhere cool, dark, dry and airy.
4. Once dry, keep them in tightly lidded containers away from light, heat and damp; sun and air shorten their life.

Growing lavender in pots

Lavender grows in a pot that drains freely, in full sun, and a pot can help where soil is heavy and wet. Each spring, move potted lavender up to a bigger pot of fresh, coarse potting soil, which brings more flowers. Water when the soil is dry, until water runs from the bottom; pots need watering more often than beds.

• Pick a compact type. 'Mini Blue' suits containers and edging, and dwarf English types such as 'Hidcote' are mostly under 2 feet tall.
• Tender types as annuals. Where winters are too cold for them, grow French and Spanish lavender in containers as annuals.

Growing lavender from seed or cuttings

Lavender can be grown from seed, but it is slow, and most lavender grown commercially starts as cuttings. The seed is slow to sprout and many varieties do not grow true to type from it; English lavender seedlings can vary in height, color and bloom time, so buy English lavender propagated from cuttings. Lavandins set sterile seed, so they come only from cuttings.

From seed. Sow seed 1/8 inch deep in a soilless mix, cover it lightly with perlite and keep it moist; sprouts usually come in 14 to 21 days at 70 F on a heating pad. Direct seeding is not recommended, since germination is low and plants take 100 to 200 days from seed to transplant. For seed, 'Lady' is a recommended cultivar, and 'Mini Blue' comes very uniform from seed.

From cuttings. One method takes cuttings right after bloom from stems with no flower buds, strips the leaves from the lower half, roots them in sterile, well-draining mix and expects roots in about three weeks. Another cuts just below a leaf joint, removes 3 or 4 lower leaves and keeps cuttings at 70 F, with roots in 30 to 40 days. They differ on rooting hormone: one dips the cut end, the other says it is not needed.

Lavender problems: root rot, pests and pets

Root rot from overwatering is the problem to watch for; lavender has few others. The root rot named is Phytophthora, so water sparingly and never let water stand around plants. Leaf spot can also show up, and good air circulation helps prevent it.

• Pests. Heavy grasshopper outbreaks can set plants back but rarely kill established ones. Watch Spanish lavender for thrips, aphids, whiteflies and spider mites.
• Deer. Some guides call lavender deer resistant, while others say deer may browse it in some areas.
• Poor flowering. Too little sun and too much nitrogen can cut flowering in Spanish lavender.

Is lavender toxic to cats and dogs? The ASPCA lists English lavender as toxic to dogs, cats and horses, naming linalool and linalyl acetate as the toxic compounds and nausea, vomiting (not in horses) and loss of appetite as the signs. A university plant database also marks English lavender as a problem plant for cats, dogs and horses. If a pet eats lavender, call your veterinarian or a pet poison control line.

Lavender seeds and supplies

Most lavender grown commercially starts as cuttings, and English lavender plants should come from cuttings, not seed, so they come true to their variety. To try seed, choose a type grown that way, such as 'Lady' or 'Mini Blue'. For drainage, reach for pea gravel mulch and, on heavy soil, a pot.

For the yearly cut back, our pick is the Felco 2: a repairable bypass pruner sized for larger hands that takes young, green branches up to 0.98 inch. For cutting flower stems at harvest, and clipping them off first-year plants, our pick is a pair of Corona FS 3214D Micro Snips, whose spring-loaded 1 3/4 inch stainless steel blades taper to fine tips for stems and buds.

What you'll need for lavender

Picks on Amazon

• Felco 2 Check price on Amazon
• Corona FS 3214D Micro Snips Check price on Amazon

Sources we used

All fourteen were copied for our records on October 29, 2026. Each lavender figure above rests on one of these pages; where two differ, you see both.

• "Utah State University Extension: How to Grow English Lavender in Your Garden"
• "Colorado State University Extension: Growing Lavender in Colorado"
• "NC State Extension Plant Toolbox: Lavandula angustifolia", "Lavandula x intermedia" and "Lavandula stoechas"
• "University of Maryland Extension: Lavender"
• "Illinois Extension: Herb Gardening, Lavender"
• "UC Master Gardeners of Sonoma County: Lavandula (Lavender)" and "UC Master Gardeners of El Dorado County: All About Lavender"
• "Clemson Cooperative Extension HGIC 1311: Herbs"
• "Mississippi State University Extension: Herb Gardens"
• "University of Missouri Extension: MU Extension research on lavender finds options for Missouri growers"
• "ASPCA Animal Poison Control: Lavender"
• "USDA Agricultural Research Service: Plant Hardiness Zone Map"
• "Felco: Felco 2" and "Corona: ComfortGEL Micro Snips FS 3214D" (the makers' product pages)

Related guides

• How to grow cilantro, the herb for cool weather, with very different needs.
• Companion planting chart, for planning beds of herbs and vegetables.
• Frost dates by ZIP code, for your area's average last frost date.

Frequently asked questions

When should you plant lavender?

Plant lavender in spring after the last frost, or in fall if about two months of good weather remain for roots to establish. In research at Alcalde, New Mexico, fall-planted lavender survived better and flowered more the next year; for fall planting, use plants from 4-inch or larger pots.

How much sun does lavender need?

Lavender needs full sun, a minimum of 6 hours of direct sun each day. Too little sun can mean fewer flowers, a leggy plant and more disease. Pair the sun with fast-draining soil, since wet roots kill more lavender than cold.

How do you prune lavender?

Prune lavender once a year, removing about a third of the top, or up to half, and never cut into bare wood. Some guides prune in spring as new leaves appear at the base; others shear plants by half after flowering. Cutting lavender back severely can kill it.

Does lavender come back every year?

Yes, lavender is a perennial, but guides differ on how long it lasts. With good care, plants can live 10 to 15 years; another view calls English lavender fairly short-lived, replaced after 3 to 5 years; and in humid Southern heat, 3 or 4 productive years counts as lucky.

What is the difference between English, French and Spanish lavender?

English lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) is the cold-hardy type, rated hardy in zones 5 to 9. Spanish lavender (Lavandula stoechas) has showy bracts on its flower heads and is hardy only in zones 8 to 9. The name French lavender is used for Lavandula dentata and also for stoechas.

Is lavender toxic to cats and dogs?

Yes, the ASPCA lists English lavender as toxic to dogs, cats and horses, with nausea, vomiting and loss of appetite among the signs; it names linalool and linalyl acetate as the toxic compounds. A university plant database also marks it as a problem plant for cats, dogs and horses. Call a veterinarian if your pet eats some.

Can lavender grow in pots?

Yes, in a pot with drainage holes and full sun, and a pot can help where garden soil stays wet. Move potted lavender up a size each spring, into fresh, coarse potting soil. Compact types such as 'Mini Blue' and 'Hidcote' suit pots.

Can you grow lavender from seed?

Yes, but it is slow: sprouts usually come in 14 to 21 days at 70 F, and plants take 100 to 200 days from seed to transplant. Many varieties do not grow true to type from seed, and commercial lavender is mostly started from cuttings. For seed, 'Lady' is a recommended cultivar.