How to grow lavender and best varieties

Lavenders are loved for their scented flowers that can be dried after they finish blooming. Bees adore them and they thrive in a sunny spot in well-drained soil.

Which? Gardening magazine grew 23 varieties of English lavender in the north and south of the UK over two years to see which would give us the best display and be hardy enough to get through UK winters.  We also grew 11 varieties of French lavender, which is less hardy and better suited to summer pots.

Our Best Buy varieties will flower in your garden throughout summer, making a beautiful display of fragrant flowers.

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Key facts

PLANT TYPE Shrub

POSITION Full sun

SOIL Well-drained

How to grow lavender: month by month

Best English lavender varieties

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Full testing results for English lavenders

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Best French lavender varieties

Which? members can log in now to see the full results and our Best Buy varieties. If you're not a member, join Which? to get instant access.

Full testing results for French lavenders

Growing lavender

Planting in the ground

Both English and French lavenders grow best in light, well-drained soil in full sun. Improve the drainage if you have heavy soil, or dig in soil improver, or grow in pots. 

Plants grow quickly in their first year, so buy in 9cm or 1L pots. Plant in April, May or June when the weather is warmer and plants are widely available. 

Growing lavender in pots

If you want to grow in containers, choose a compact variety and grow it in a sturdy pot with large drainage holes. Use a Best Buy compost for containers and add a controlled-release feed when planting. If you're growing French lavender, add some grit to improve drainage.

Watering and feeding

Water your plants in the ground regularly until they're well established. Plants in their second year will need less watering. Keep pots well watered throughout spring and summer. 

There's no need to feed lavender plants in the border, as excess feeding can lead to leggy growth. 

How to prune lavender

Deadhead as flowers go over or remove all flower heads once blooming has finished in late summer, also cutting off the top 2-3cm of foliage. You can delay this until spring to leave seedheads for the birds. Don't prune into old, leafless branches, as they won't regrow. 

Try our Best Buy secateurs

How to overwinter lavender 

Some varieties of French lavender are described as frost hardy, but they won’t survive prolonged periods of temperatures below 0°C. Due to their sensitivity to sub-zero temperatures, it’s best to grow them in pots so they can be moved to a frost-free place for winter. Taking cuttings is a good way of having plants to overwinter indoors. 

How to take lavender cuttings

Take softwood or semi-ripe cuttings from shoots that haven't yet flowered in early or mid-summer. 

• Remove non-flowering shoots, cutting to about 10cm long. Make sure you choose a shoot with a woody base and a tip with new growth. 
• Pull off some of the lower leaves. Fill pots with a Best Buy compost for raising young plants, lightly water and push the cuttings into the compost. 
• The rooted cuttings can be overwintered in a light, frost-free place for planting outside once the danger of frost has passed next year.

Common lavender problems

Dieback

Lavender roots can rot in wet or heavy soils, so if plants start to die off in sections, check the drainage and see if it can be improved.

Rosemary beetle

Rosemary beetles can attack leaves and flowers. Damage is caused by larvae and adult beetles, and is usually seen in spring or late summer. The larvae are off-white, while the adults have iridescent green shells with purple stripes. Plants can cope with a light infestation, which can be removed by hand. A heavier infestation may need to be sprayed with an insecticide when plants aren't in flower.

How we test English lavenders

Which? Gardening chose 23 varieties of English lavender, with a mix of old favourites, previous Best Buys and new cultivars. We planted three of each variety in a sunny border at our Capel Manor Gardens trial site in north London and also at Oatridge College near Edinburgh. 

We watered them well in both years, making sure they got through hot weather and droughts. We didn't feed them. 

We trimmed back the spent flower heads and top 2-3cm of growth in spring to encourage new foliage and flowers. The plants grew for two years and we noted any losses over winter.

How we test French lavenders

Which? Gardening chose 11 varieties of French lavender, including  widely available favourites and new cultivars. 

We planted three of each variety in early summer into 7-litre pots with our Best Buy compost for pots with some added horticultural grit and popped them on a sunny patio at our Capel Manor Gardens trial site.

We kept them watered during dry spells and recorded how long they flowered for, if they kept a neat shape and how attractive the flowers were.