July: Too Hot to Plant Lavender
We have had several people come to our farm asking this weekend for lavender plants. We are out of lavender plants. Why don't we sell more now during summer? It's too hot to plant baby lavenders. They will just wilt and die. We do not sell them because we do not want people to purchase them from us only to get home, plant them, and they die in a week. Sure we could make money selling the lavender plants, but do not feel it is ethical to do so.
If you look at the latitude line of where we are located at, we are much further south then Provence France, where lavender grows leaps and bounds. Since we are closer to the equator our summers are much hotter and get more intense sun rays that cook the baby lavender. Our summers are much longer too, compared with Provence France. Yes, I have tried growing lavenders during this time of year, and based on my experience they die each time. It's very difficult too, since lavenders need at least 6 hours of full sun. The heat wave we have right now has also been a scorcher - temperatures in the 100s. Wow! Now that's hot. We go by feels like temperature.
The best advice I can give with starting your lavender growing adventure is to plant next year between mid April (after the last frost) through till the first part of June. Then you must make sure that your soil is ready to plant. Lavenders hate acidic red clay soil So we must amend with lime. They are want well draining soil. That means you must add a lot of gravel or limestone to your soil. Build the area up (look like a hill or volcano) So water can drain off well. Lavender can easily get root rot here in the southeast if watered too much or your soil is not well draining.
Lavenders so not like their roots cramped. I always tell people that how ever big the plant is above ground that is how big it is underground. So do not bother with pots, unless yours is huge (3 feet tall and 2-3 feet around). I know you may have seen magazine articles to place a lavender next to your bed to help you sleep. The writer did not do their research, since lavender need 6 hours of full sun and do not like their roots getting cramped. They are need air space to help dry up the large amount of rainfall with get here in the South, as well has our high humidity. Humidity is moisture.
So now that you have the facts. Plan out where you want your lavenders to grow, prepare the right soil conditions, and spacing. Now you will be ready to plant your lavenders come next spring to early summer.
Enjoy!
