VISITOR INFORMATION
The best time to enjoy your visit to our farm, we suggest you:
*We highly recommend exploring our website prior to your visit, as well as our Facebook page or our Instagram to see what is in bloom. We not only grow lavender, but also specialty cut flower, so you can almost find something in bloom here at the farm from May through October. But once freezing temperatures arrive all flowers are gone. Please refrain from calling the shop to ask what is in bloom, since we are busy helping customers in the shop, making products, or in the field.
June: Lavender blooms July - October: Other flowers are in bloom - Check Facebook for weekly blooms. We cannot guarantee flowers are in bloom or how many are in bloom daily/weekly/monthly. Only Mother Nature knows.
*Check our hours of operation and note special events and classes, including possible early closures, which vary depending on the season.
Anyone arriving while the shop is closed will be escorted off the property, since we live here at the farm and have chores that need to be done as well as relaxing. Insurance policy requirements are also needing to be followed for visitors times only during open hours. *Note: we do have cameras on the property that will alarm us during closed shop hours of anyone at the farm.
Do I need Reservations just to Visit: You do NOT need reservations to just visit, But you do need to visit during our open hours. Our u-picks for 2024 will be at specific times and days and tickets will be sold online to reserve your spot. This will allow more one on one assistance and avoid crowds in the you-pick fields. We do have fresh flowers in shop on weekends from late Spring through Autumn, while they available. Simply call the shop to check before arriving to make sure.
Is there an admission charge to visit: There is No charge to visit the farm during our open hours, except in June.
June: admission fee - $5.00 per car of up to 4 people with 1.50 per extra person. Children under 5 free. You can pay cash of exact fee at our honor pay cash boxes located at the entrance and at the walkway from the shop or you may pay inside the shop. Yes, it is important to charge a fee to help us replace gravel for parking areas and reseed grass walkways to make the farm beautiful for years to come. We are not a corporate farm, but a small family farm. Thank you all for understanding.
If you have reservations for a class - your parking fee is included in your class fee.
2024 * U-Pick June Lavender information: June Lavender you-picks go on sale online at our website the second week of May for picking the month of June. You must have purchased your online ticket with us before arriving to pick. We will have all the tools for your to pick. No tickets will be sold at our shop.
Flower 2024 u-pick tickets will go on sale online at our website in July. Flowers will be zinnias, Gomphrenas, and celosias and others. Dahlias will be on sale u-picks 2024 during September and first part of October while they last. All flower u-pick tickets will state which flowers will be included for your u-pick time.
How long does a u-pick take: *Please allow 1 hour time at the farm for 30 minutes to do you-pick, visiting grounds, and checking out our gift shop.
*Dress for the weather and wear comfortable walking shoes (sandals and high heel shoes are not recommended), as our fields are a walking experience in grass and could be wet or muddy depending on weather. In the summer we do get bumble bees and honey bees in the grass and dandelions, so wearing closed toe shoes are very important.
How to buy our flowers: We have several ways to purchase our flower or lavender bouquets. Lavender bouquets fresh are only available the end of June during harvesting time. Dried lavender bouquet bundles are available throughout the year. For fresh flower bouquets we offer by the bouquet inside the shop or at the plant stand right outside the shop.
Wholesale flowers: if you are a business locally we do offer wholesale to a few business once flowers are in bloom. Please call ahead for information.
When do you sell lavender plants and how to grow them? Lavender is not meant to grow in the southeast, since they hate clay and acidic soil, and hates rain and humidity. Until we figured out how to grow lavender here in Georgia no one could get it to grow in large amounts in the ground. We do have classes in April to help you learn how to grow lavender in Georgia.
Remember: Lavender needs well draining soil. In Provence France it grows in rocky limestone with a light ocean breeze coming from the Mediterranean Sea. It needs a pH of 6.8-7.8 and at least 6 hours of full sun. Don’t over water. Don’t add fertilizer. Give it air space. Don’t let it bloom the first year you plant it. And prune it once a year at least 6 weeks before late fall frost. This will help to prevent it from getting woody.
We sell our lavender plants from mid April (after the last frost) through June, which is the only time you should plant lavender here in Georgia. Don’t plant in fall since we get ice before snow in winter and ice will kill baby lavenders if they have not had enough time to establish a good root system. We sell about 5-6 varieties of lavenders, which can grow here in Georgia. Most all are intermedias and then one English culinary called Munstead. This last one is shorter very lighter scented lavender, where Intermedias can grow 36-42” tall with a very strong lavender scent. At our plant table when we are selling our plants with have a sheet with basic instructions on how to grow lavender and a description of each variety of lavender we sell. Each plant will also have an identification tag inside at each pot. You are welcome to take a photo of these sheets. We cannot afford to give out sheets to everyone due to cost of paper, ink, and needed time to make/print sheets, since this is our very busy time of year and we are just a small family farm. Thank you for understanding. There is however a class we give in April you can sign up for that goes over all the specifics of growing and caring for your lavender with handouts.
Can I bring my own Chair: *No outside chairs permitted. We do have 5 picnic tables and wrought iron chairs at the farm for sitting.
Restricted Dress:
*Costumes/costume accessories of any type are not permitted.
*Clothing that is deemed inappropriate by the general public is not permitted (including excessively revealing clothing, clothing with profanity, objectionable language or graphics). Most of our visitors are bending down, etc... since this is a farm and outside in all kinds of weather. It's best to be comfortable for being in all positions.
Food & Drink
*We do Not have a cafe at the farm, so do not sell food. We do have a coke machine inside the shop and have lavender ice cream available for purchase in June and July while quantity last. You may bring your own picnic basket with food and drink, bring your own trash bags and clean up when finished taking your trash with you.
*Please no food or open drinks or drinks with straws are allowed inside the shop. This is to prevent spills on the floor or products.
Can we book the picnic area for a small event? We do sometimes rent out our picnic tables (3) for a special quiet event, such as an engagement, or birthday for adults of up to 12 people. Cost is 50.00 for two hours and one must clean up area before leaving. Please bring your own trash bags. All rules of the farm still must be followed. All rental of our picnic area for event must be scheduled at least a week ahead and cannot be on the same time as one of our classes.Sorry this is not an inside venue. Please contact the farm to reserve your event.
Take Care When Exploring Our Fields:
Stay off of black weed cloth, irrigation lines, netting, and plants/flowers. High Tunnel and all greenhouses are totally closed to the public. We must take care as not to diseases inside to them.
*Pinching or cutting flowers and lavender on your own is strictly prohibited. People cutting/pinching flowers or plants without tickets will be escorted off the farm. We want all visitors to enjoy the beauty of our blooms and if we had everyone taking flowers we would not have a flower farm for all to visit.
Dogs/Pets
Sorry No dogs or pets are permitted, except for service dogs. We have chickens and are afraid of dogs and will refuse to lay eggs we need to supply Jeremiah's Place for homeless moms with kids in our county. Chickens consider dogs as predators - since they had an experience with our local coyotes.
*Regarding Service Dogs - NOTE: As of January 1, 2019, service "dogs whose sole function is to provide comfort or emotional support do not qualify as service animals under the Americans with Disabilities Act" and will not be permitted to enter the farm.
Photography
We love to see photo on social media with link to our farm, but please only cell phone photos only. Professional 35 mm cameras are not allowed for photographing people, but are allowed for taking photos of the flowers only.
*Note we do have farm cameras on the farm for outside and inside shop. Closed shop times the cameras will send us an alarm if on the farm property. So please be respectful and follow our rules, since this is private home property. Rules are in place so all can enjoy the farm and us to keep allowing visitors to visit.
*Staged photography or photo shoots is strictly prohibited. whether amateur or professional.
*Examples include engagement, wedding, maternity, senior class photos as well as modeling shots that involve posing and/or changes of clothing. Professional photography equipment, such as reflectors, are not permitted.
*Drone is not permitted at the farm to allow peace and quiet of the farm for all to enjoy.
*Professional Photography: This year we only allow Melissa Giles as our Only professional photographer and will take appointments for June in the Lavender after hours at the farm. You will need to contact her personally to make arrangements for photos at the farm. Her contact information is https://melissagphotos.com
We no longer offer time to other photographers, since we live at the farm and need privacy after hours. Thank you for understanding.
Restrooms
We do not have a public inside restroom. We do have a port-potty that is cleaned by the company we rent from on a weekly bases. It is located behind the fence - just past the barn and chicken coop.
Handicap - Wheelchairs
The front of the property is somewhat level and is mowed weekly. The back of the farm does slope to the back of the property. Please be aware that all the lavender and flower areas are grassed.
Touring the Farm
When the farm is open we allow visitors to self wander the grounds and explore the lavender and flowers (June bloom for Lavender and July - first of October for flowers).
Farm is open from Valentine's Day week through the second week of December. Hours are: Wednesday - Friday 11-3pm, Saturday 10-4pm, and Sunday 1-4pm.
Even though the lavender is only in bloom in June and the flowers bloom July through first of October - we do make lavender and flower products with what we grow here at the farm and then sell the products in our shop. We have visitors that come back very ofter to purchase our amazing products, so we keep the shop open so all can visit the shop throughout the year (mid February - mid December). January is pretty cold and we might even have ice or snow, so we are closed then and let the lavender sleep.
Group Tours: If you have a large group of 10-25 people and would like a guided tour please contact the shop during open hours to reserve a date and time. Price for personal guided tour with our owners - cost is 10.00 per person. *We do Not give guided tours during June and July, since we are so busy during these months with u-picks and lavender plant sales. Buses are allowed to park just passed the mailbox just off the side of the road.
Retirement Buses: Please contact and reserve your time of arrival by contacting the farm at least a week before your arrival, so that we can make sure we have enough staff on hand to make your visit enjoyable.
The following is strictly prohibited at our Farm:
*Smoking of any type, including e-cigarettes, vaping devices or illegal substances, are prohibited at the farm grounds, parking area, and all buildings.
*Firearms of any type or items that look like weapons. This is private property.
*Climbing trees, or garden features. Picking plants and flowers. Entering swimming pool, or pond.
*Drones.
*Parties - large group of visitors to have birthday parties or other parties - we are not a venue and need to have room for all to enjoy the quietness and beauty of the farm.
*Balloons including balloon letters/numbers, signs, and any props.
*Ceremonies (weddings, religious or disbursement of ashes).
*Musical instruments, radios, or music players with external speakers.
*Using mobile phone with external speakers in "on" position.
*Bicycles, Razor scooters, roller blades, skateboards, Segways, Hoverboards.
*Any toys or item that is deemed disruptive by Farm help or owners (balls, frisbees, kites, bubbles). The farm with all the flowers are not a place to play catch. We want to make sure the flowers are protected and not damages.
*Jogging or running.
Thank you so much for checking out our FAQ to make your visit the best it can be. We are passionate here at Red Oaks Lavender Farm to producing high quality fragrant lavender and flower blooms and continue to create a beautiful peaceful place for to visit. We believe flowers, whether it's lavender or bouquet flowers, are what our soul needs. Flower farm gives us a place of beauty and peace. Enjoy your time here at Red Oak Lavender Farm.
www.info@redoaklavender.com