Seen in some of the swankiest gardens across the country, lavender ‘Hidcote’ is the classic, hardy English Lavender, and will transform your garden with colour and incredible fragrance. The silvery grey foliage and pure purple blooms are packed with a heady scent and will provide you with a colourful spectacle from early to mid-summer. ‘Hidcote’ is one of the most aromatic varieties, grown widely in the fragrance market, yet is a great garden variety too. The purple flowers are also a magnet to bees, butterflies, and other beneficial creatures, which will have your garden buzzing with wildlife - literally. Growing up to 60cm tall, a hedge of traditional English lavender can be used in many ways. Try planting it around beds, borders, or paths, to divide up parts of your garden or to make an eye-catching parterre or knot garden space plants 30cm apart. Once established, a lavender hedge is extremely drought tolerant. Keep it in great shape by pruning twice a year; trim lightly in mid to late summer, removing spent flower heads. Prune again in early spring, removing about 2.5cm of growth. You can even cut the stems to make fragrant indoor dried displays. Specifications Supplied as 10 established plants in 9m pots, ready to plant Availability: March to October Planting time: March to August Flowering time: June to September Top Tips In late summer, clip the plants back lightly after the flowers have faded. Cut the stems back by a few inches, but not so far that the stems are bare of live foliage, and plants will then have time to produce new shoots before winter dormancy. Care Information This drought-tolerant plant thrives in a sunny border, container, herb or gravel gardens. Best planted between April and May when the soil is warming up, lavender thrives in most free-draining soils in full sun. Heavier soils should have some grit added to improve drainage and to open them up. Space plants 90cm (3ft) apart, or if growing a hedge, 30cm (1ft) apart or, 45cm (18in) for larger cultivars. Lavender can be grown in large pots, 30-40cm (1ft-16in) diameter, using a multipurpose or loam-based compost such as JI No 3, with some extra coarse grit, (up to 30%), to improve drainage, along with some controlled-release fertiliser granules. Ensure that the compost is regularly watered in summer, although for improved cold tolerance, kept on the dry side during winter by standing in a cold greenhouse or in the rain shadow of walls.
