Snowshill Lavender
The Lavender Fields in the heart of the Cotswolds
We planted our first Lavender in 200 and now we have 53 acres of glorious rolling Lavender fields

Planting

Planting usually takes place at the beginning of April. This means we are unlikely to experience any hard frosts, the soil temperature is starting to rise, day length increasing and gives the plants the longest possible growing season in their first year.

We choose fields on south facing slopes to catch more of the sun’s energy for better plant growth, and higher oil yeilds. Wherever we can, we plant the rows due north/south to help ensure that each side of the plant receives almost equal solar energy, and so the flowers mature evenly.

The field are ploughed over the winter and then left for the frost to break the soil down naturally into a friable, well-structured condition ready for planting. All field planting is from plugs at a rate of 4500 – 5500 to the acre. We use a converted strawberry planter for this, which is fed by one person for each row. This way a team of five can plant up to 7 acres per day.

Plants are then fed and watered for the first month if soil conditions are very dry.

For the first year of the plants life we trim them regularly to encourage them to grow into dense, strong bushy plants that will form a tight hedge with an abundance of flowers.

These same principles can be applied to planting in the garden. Lavender can be planted any time from April to September with good results, but provision will be needed for watering if planted during the middle of summer. Please see our downloadable guide to planting lavender in the garden for hints and tips.