How to Grow Lavender

[Music] lavender fields are a beautiful addition of farms offer diversity in crop cycles and create a colorful draw for people and pollinators alike while they can help add profit to an existing enterprise it takes hard work to grow these flowers so if you're looking for a set it and forget it crop you'll have to look elsewhere if however you have the desire to grow this lovely flower and the will to see it through we think you'll find the rewards to be manifold the first step to lavender farming is to determine how you plan to monetize your crop there are several different varieties of lavender on the market and each one lends itself to a particular end product fresh cut flowers are a quick and easy way to get your lavender to the public if you already have a retail outlet where cut flowers are sold it's a no-brainer to add some lavender to your harvest season you might also check with local florists who would love to be able to advertise local cut flowers in their arrangements dried flowers are a versatile product with a much longer shelf life than fresh flowers they can be used for aromatherapy and artisan sachets sold in bundles for interior design and added to teas concoctions soaps and other popular health trend items distillation of lavender oil may be one of the most popular uses of the plant you can distill it on site for a boutique oil or sell it by weight to a processor with your market in mind the next step is decide which varieties best fulfill your market goals and also grow well in your area not all lavenders are created equal there are more than 30 species with over 400 varieties to choose from in the world however only three of those species dominate commercial applications lavendula angustifolia english lavender lavendulus stokus spanish lavender and lavendula x intermedia a hybrid strain lavendula angustifolia or english lavender is generally hearty down to zone 5 and is typically grown for high oil production or culinary use it is known to have sweeter flowers than other varieties because of a lower level of camphor in the oils lavendulus stocus or spanish lavender is hardy in zones 7 to 10 and can handle a harsher summer than english lavender it's the first to bloom in mid-spring and will hold its color through late summer spanish lavender is known for its unique blooms with feathery petals extending from the top of the bloom stock it's not for human consumption though this one's better for cut flowers and attracting pollinators or people to your fields lavendula x intermedia is the number one producer in commercial farms this family contains varieties such as lavender province grosso and goodwin creek each variety is a little different but as a group they are hardy from zones six to nine they generally produce larger flowers longer spikes and exponential yield rates of oil compared to english lavender make sure you're ordering your plants to ship after the last frost date in your area once the plugs arrive unpack them immediately and give them a couple of days to rest from the trip to you [Music] because lavender is from the mediterranean region it prefers particular growing conditions a dry and arid environment lots of sunshine and a coarse rocky soil that stays quite dry during the growing season in a perfect world lavender would be planted on a south-facing hill in the northern hemisphere in a rough soil giving it quick drainage and lots of sunlight if your conditions are less than ideal you'll need to plan for soil conditioning adding coarse sand and gravel will condition the soil for better drainage planting on raised beds with ground cover will decrease the amount of saturation due to rain a plastic cover on a raised bed will all but stop rain penetration but it can make it difficult to know moisture concentration for irrigation systems spacing is somewhat determined by the variety you decide to grow but a good rule of thumb is two to three feet between plants and four to six feet between rows your row spacing is going to be determined somewhat by how you plan to care for the ground if you're going to use a solid ground cover and do weed control you can't go on the short side if you plan to do a cover crop like a short grass or clover then you'll need enough space to mow depending on your mower size rows should be planted in an alternating pattern the second row spaced halfway between the plants of the first row if your field is conditioned properly we have seen much luck from planting plugs directly into the ground make sure when you're transplanting your plugs you push up from the bottom with a marker or pencil with the eraser end up so as to not damage the root system dig a hole double the size of your root mass and make sure that the soil you use for backfill has plenty of coarse ground sand or gravel for drainage after transplanting you'll want to water them in to settle the soil if you choose to put in an irrigation system each row should have drip tape running the length of the row either on top of the ground or buried half an inch deep you'll have to plan the spacing of your plants before you order drip tape each hole of the drip tape should fall right at the placement of each plant so that only the plant is receiving moisture and the ground around it is dry enough to wick away the excess younger plants may need to be watered a couple times a week until they are established but mature plants should be watered once every two weeks in the absence of rainfall once buds form most lavender farmers will increase their irrigation to at least once weekly to promote more flowers lavender plants can survive for decades but most commercial farmers rotate older crops out in order to create a consistent yield for their crops at a large lavender farm in exxon provence we discovered that their early plantings years one through two were very low yield almost nursery beds years three through five were their main production starting year six depending on the variety they begin to replant fresh stock in the fall they trim their plants back in order to create new growth in the spring and increase flower production lavender farming can be very rewarding both for bees beautification and your bottom line with a good plan you can expect healthy returns while drawing people to your property i mean who can resist a good lavender [Music] field [Music] you

Channel: North Carolina Farms

Views: 28,698

Keywords: Lavender, lavender farm, lavender farming, provence, grosso, goodwin creek, bucci pinnata, munstead

Id: rDiipRmltKU

Length: 6min 53sec (413 seconds)

Published: Thu Jun 10 2021