Do lavender plants come back every year?
Written by
Olivia Mitchell
Reviewed by
Prof. Samuel Fitzgerald, Ph.D.Whether lavender will be a perennial or not depends on the climate and care of the plants. In a garden located within the plant hardiness zone of 6, ‘Hidcote' lavender returns every year when planted in the gravel mulch, however, the French lavenders do not survive when simply left outside for winter. Successful overwintering also depends on the USDA zone, and the protection of the roots from the wet, frozen soil.
Mulching Materials
- Gravel drains better than bark
- Straw insulates zone 5-6 roots
- Avoid moisture-trapping leaves
Shelter Solutions
- Burlap wraps for tender types
- Raised beds prevent root soak
- Move pots to unheated garages
English lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) lives for 12 or more years in zone five with proper pruning and care. I have also brought back to life some plants that had been neglected, by simply cutting the wood stems to 6 inches every spring! You should not prune the lavender after September because the new growth will not have enough time to harden before winter arrives.
Tender French lavender is often considered an annual above zone 7. A client in Michigan that I recently visited grows his field of French lavender in terra cotta pots and moves the pots inside to sunny windows. This mimics a Mediterranean winter, but the blooms will not thrive near the windows in the winter months without the benefit of 8 hours of sun a day that it receives in summer.
Root rot causes much worse deaths than cold. If you are going to grow lavender, replace the clay soil with a mix of 60 percent sand and gravel. My neighbor's lavender survived -10°F in raised beds, but it rotted away in soggy ground. Most plants die in winter wetness and not from the temperature.
Read the full article: How to Grow Lavender: Complete Expert Guide for Success
