Christmas Lavender

Lavender is usually grown outside, but these young pyramids will be quite happy inside for the festive season.

Try and choose a cool spot with plenty of sunlight. Indoors you just need to watch that your plant doesn’t get too hot or dry in sunny spells and in the New Year your plant will do best either in a pot on a patio or planted on into the garden.

While in pots, plants will do best with daily watering, especially in a warm room. If you are going to be away for a few days water heavily from the top and make sure the water runs all the way through the plastic pot, so you know it’s had a good soak before you go.

After the festive season you can remove and store the natural decorations for next year and move your tree to its new position outside. This is classic English style lavender and if allowed to grow into a natural bush, it will produce scented blue flowers each summer. If you would like to keep your trees pyramid shape for next Christmas prune 2 or 3 times during the year after each flush of new growth.

Problem solving

Uneven watering and/or overly warm conditions indoors can sometimes lead to patches of mould on the leaves at the base or in the middle of the pyramid. If this occurs snip out the damaged leaves and branches and try moving your plant to a cooler spot with more air movement. You can even pop it outside if you can find a sheltered frost-free position.