While lavender is usually regarded as a summer-blooming flower, some varieties are early bloomers with their magnificent flowers appearing in early spring.
Others are late bloomers with flowers opening up in mid-summer and lasting until late summer.
Planting each one in the garden will reward gardeners with heavenly fragrances and attractive flower spikes until late summer.
However, when growing these plants, one gardener has found that their lavender is not blooming as it should.
Taking to the Gardening UK Facebook page, Cesca Rowe asked: “Why is my lavender not flowering? We planted it at the end of summer last year. It’s grown massively but it’s definitely not purple?”
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Group members in the comments section suggested that the gardener neglect her lavender plant more. Rachel Evans said: “I’ve found that my lavender plant thrives off of neglect.
“Mine is doing amazing right now and I don’t do anything with it. I just water it occasionally.”
Karl Hyde said: “Lavender thrives on little water, poor soil, no fertiliser and hot sun.”
Maggie MacLean agreed: “Lavenders thrive on poor soil. If you enrich the soil then you’ll get lush growth rather than vibrant flowers.”
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Velia Soni wrote: “The best way to increase flowering is to leave it alone. I’ve stopped fertilising the plant and watering it so much and now I’ve got a beautiful display of blooms.”
Watering lavender too frequently and adding fertiliser can stress the plant which causes fewer blooms.
Lavenders are plants that thrive on neglect with low watering requirements and a preference for low to medium-fertility soils.
Lavender are a fan of these conditions as they are of Mediterranean origin where there is little rainfall and sandy soils that are low in nutrients.
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Lavender thrives in these conditions and produces the most blooms and strongest aromas when gardeners recreate some of their natural conditions.
Instead of fertilising the plant gardeners should aim to replicate their preferred soil type by amending the soil with a good amount of horticultural sand or grit to ensure good blooms.
Sand and grit are known to help to balance the levels of nutrients in the compost so that the soils are low to medium fertility and create the optimal conditions for lavenders to bloom.
Sand will also help to increase the drainage of the soil which is vital for maintaining the appropriate soil moisture so that the lavender roots can remain healthy.
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