Lavender

Year-round

Lavender is not from Florida and it struggles with the state's humidity and heavy rain, but it can still grow in Orlando if you focus on drainage first.

• Plant lavender in a raised bed at least 12 inches high or a large unglazed clay pot, never straight into a low spot or heavy Central Florida yard soil.
• Mix the native soil with 30 to 40 percent coarse sand or fine gravel so heavy rain drains through fast instead of sitting around the roots.
• Use gravel or crushed rock as mulch instead of bark, straw, or wood chips. Organic mulch holds moisture against the base of the plant and can help start root rot.
• Water only when the top few inches of soil feel dry. In Orlando, too much water is a much bigger risk to this plant than too little.

A raised bed and gravel mulch look different from a typical lawn planting bed, so check your HOA's rules on hardscape and mulch type before installing one. Both are HOA-friendly choices, they just tend to need a heads up.

Fall

As the rain lets up in fall, this is a good time to clean up storm damage and fix drainage before winter.

• Once the heaviest summer rain tapers off, usually by October, cut away any stems that rotted or died back over the summer.
• Check that mulch has not washed into a pile against the base of the plant. A wet pile against the stem is a common cause of stem rot.
• If the plant struggled through summer, fall is a reasonable time to move it into a raised bed or a higher spot with better drainage.
• A light shaping prune is fine now, but save the bigger, harder prune for spring after new growth starts.

Winter

Winter is usually the easiest season for lavender in Orlando. Cold is not the main risk here. Wet soil still is.

• Occasional light frost between December and February usually is not a real threat. This plant handles cold far better than it handles constant humidity and wet soil.
• Skip extra winter mulch added just for cold protection. In Central Florida it mostly adds moisture risk rather than cold protection, since hard freezes are rare.
• Cut back watering further in winter, Orlando's driest stretch, since the plant needs much less supplemental water than it does in summer.
• If a hard freeze warning is issued, drape a frost cloth over the plant overnight and remove it the next morning so the plant does not stay damp underneath.

Spring

Spring is the best window to plant or replant lavender in Orlando, before summer's heavy rain arrives.

• Plant new lavender in March or April, after the coldest nights have passed and before Central Florida's summer rains typically start in June.
• Avoid planting in summer. Young roots cannot establish fast enough to handle the combination of summer heat and heavy afternoon storms.
• Once new growth appears in spring, prune back up to one third of the plant to keep it full and encourage more blooms later in the season.
• Go light on fertilizer. Lavender grown in lean soil tends to have a stronger scent and a more compact shape than a heavily fed plant.

Summer

Summer is the toughest season for lavender here. Daily humidity and afternoon thunderstorms are when most root rot starts.

• Check that your raised bed or pot drains fully within a few hours of a heavy storm. Water sitting around the roots for even a day can start root rot.
• Watch for leaves that wilt and stay wilted even after the soil has dried out. That usually points to root rot, not thirst, so do not respond by watering more.
• Water at the soil level instead of overhead, and let the top layer of soil dry out between waterings.
• Give the plant full sun and open space around it. A crowded or shaded spot stays damp longer after a storm and raises the chance of fungal disease.

Year-round

Lavender comes from the Mediterranean, a hot, dry, rocky climate that is close to the opposite of Dallas's heavy Blackland Prairie clay. Get the site and drainage right and it can be a long lived, low water shrub. Get it wrong and it rots.

• Full sun, at least six hours a day, in a raised bed or mounded berm built eight to twelve inches above grade so roots stay out of standing clay water.
• Amend heavy clay with coarse sand, gypsum, and organic matter, or build the bed from a fast draining gritty mix instead of trying to loosen native clay in place.
• Mulch with gravel, crushed granite, or pea gravel instead of wood mulch or bark. It reflects heat, keeps stems dry, and does not hold moisture against the crown.
• Water low and infrequent once established. In Dallas, overwatering kills far more lavender than underwatering does.
• The ASPCA lists lavender as toxic to dogs, cats, and horses. The listed toxic components are linalool and linalyl acetate, with reported effects of nausea, vomiting (not seen in horses), and loss of appetite. Keep it out of reach of pets that chew on landscaping.

Fall

Fall is when North Texas lavender gets its main structural haircut, ahead of winter and next year's growth.

• Do the year's main prune in early fall, cutting back about one third of the plant's woody growth to keep a dense, rounded shape and a strong base for next spring.
• Remove dead or spent foliage and stems so the plant is not carrying disease prone debris into winter.
• Refresh gravel mulch where it has thinned, keeping it a couple inches back from direct contact with the stems.
• Hold off on heavy pruning after mid fall. Cutting into old wood too late leaves little time to recover before the first freeze.

This is the prune that most affects how the plant looks the rest of the year. Skipping it is how lavender turns into the sprawling, woody, leggy shape that reads as untended in a front yard bed.

Winter

Dallas winters are mild most years, USDA zone eight a, but an occasional hard freeze is the real risk to an established plant.

• Leave the plant's structure alone once temperatures drop. The fall prune should already be done, and additional cutting during winter dormancy adds stress.
• Before a hard freeze or ice event, a breathable frost cloth draped over the plant helps protect stems from wind and freeze damage. Do not use plastic, which traps moisture against the foliage.
• Keep gravel mulch in place through winter. It protects the crown and roots through freeze and thaw cycles better than wood mulch, which holds moisture against the base.
• Hold off on watering right before or during freezing weather. Wet soil that then freezes is harder on roots than dry soil.

Spring

Spring is planting season and the first real test of drainage, since North Texas gets heavy spring rain on top of thawing clay.

• Plant new lavender after the last frost, typically early to mid March in the Dallas area, so roots get a full season to establish before summer heat.
• After spring downpours, check that the raised bed or berm is draining within a few hours and not holding standing water around the base of the plant.
• Cut back any winter damaged, gray, or dead stems once new green growth shows at the base. This is also when to shape the plant into a tidy, rounded mound.
• Go light on fertilizer, or skip it. Lavender that gets too much nitrogen grows soft, floppy stems and fewer flowers, with more disease risk.

Summer

Summer in Dallas means intense heat and, some years, heavy humidity. Both push lavender toward stress and rot faster than cold weather ever does.

• Water deeply but infrequently, and water in the early morning rather than midday, to cut evaporation loss and avoid leaving foliage wet overnight.
• After flowering finishes, trim spent flower spikes back to the topmost set of leaves. This tidies the shape and can trigger a smaller second bloom.
• Brief wilting during peak heat that recovers by evening is normal. Wilting that does not recover points to a drainage or root problem, not a signal to add more water.
• Give plants room to breathe. Crowded plantings trap humidity around the foliage and raise the risk of leaf spot.