A Lavender Garden is a must. Besides its fragrance and beauty, it is an ancient medicinal plant, an effective pest repellent, a valuable companion plant, a culinary flavouring and garnish and household freshener and cleaning agent. The flowers also attract bees and butterflies to your garden.
FOUR WAYS TO USE LAVENDER
1. As a healing herb
Lavender has a calming effect that helps us to sleep, relieves headaches and indigestion, lifts fatigue and depression and even eases anxiety-induced asthma. Sip a fragrant lavender tea or soak in a lavender-infused bath.
Lavender flowers are also known to be antiseptic and antibacterial, so they can be used in creams and oils to heal burns, stings, wounds and sores, even mild cases of acne.
2. As a natural insect repellent
The strongly aromatic leaves naturally repel aphids, whitefly and other pests, reducing the need for garden sprays. Margaret Roberts, the standard bearer for lavender, has found it to be an excellent companion plant that benefits all plants growing near it.
Dried lavender can be used in bunches, bags and pot-pourri as a natural air freshener and as a moth and insect repellent. It will also help to repel the neighbours' cats, as well as rats and mice, who don not like the camphor smell.
3. In the kitchen
Used with a light touch, lavender flowers impart a delicious flavour and aroma to biscuits, other baked treats and desserts. Chopped leaves tenderise meat and can be added to soups, stews and casseroles. Angustifolia and stoechas, as well as "Margaret Roberts" lavender, are the culinary lavenders. But, as Margaret Roberts advises, "a little goes a long way".
4. As a cleaning agent
Make a natural household cleaner from a strong infusion of the flowers, or a few drops of essential oil mixed with vinegar and water. The same mixture can be used to remove pet smells and soiling.
DIFFERENT VARIETIES OF LAVENDER TO TRY
ENGLISH LAVENDER (LAVANDULA ANGUSTIFOLIA)
This is traditionally the herbalist's lavender although other lavender also have medicinal qualities. It prefers cooler weather, flowers in spring and usually again in autumn.
The intense blue flowers are superbly fragrant, and the bushy plants with narrow grey-green leaves range from dwarf to 70cm high. Besides Lavender "Hidcote Blue", True English" and 'Munstead Strain', look out for two never varieties, the dwarf 'Ellagance' (white, sky-blue and deep-blue flowers) and 'Blue River' (30cm) with its pretty, exceptionally deep-blue flowers.
FRENCH LAVENDER (L.DENTATA)
With its showy silvery leaves and substantial lavender-blue flower spikes, it blooms throughout summer. Bushes grow between 60-80cm high and should be trimmed after each flush to prevent the plants becoming woody.
L.dentata 'Candicans' has large blue flowers topped with short, pale purple bracts. the green-leafed L.dentata 'Royal Crown' has very aromatic leaves and large blue flowers.
SPANISH LAVENDER (L.STOECHAS)
The flower spikes of this spectacular spring-flowering lavender are very colourful with prominent 'ears'. Plants are compact, 30-60cm high, with fine grey-green leaves. They should be pruned after the first flush. There are more than 30 varieties available, ranging in size and colour.
Newer varieties include 'Purple Ribbon' )deep purple), 'Bella Rouge' (rose/white), 'Coco Blue White'.
LAVANDULA INTERMEDIA
These varieties are crosses of L. angustifolia and other lavenders, the best known being 'Margaret Roberts' lavender and the compact 'Grosso' lavender and the compact 'Grosso'. margaret Roberts' flowers non-stop from spring onwards and although the individual spikes are slender, it produces such a mass of them that the effect is breathtaking.
Trim back after flowering and a new flush will develop. bushes are hardy and can grow up to 1m high and wide.
DUTCH LAVENDER (L.X ALLARDII 'AFRICAN PRIDE')
Known as is the hedge lavender, this variety has beautiful silvery leaves, some of which are serrated. It grows about 1m in height, flowers infrequently and can be clipped into a variety of shapes.
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Enjoy your Gardening!
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