PLANTING LAVENDER in Clay Soil 

It has been brought to my attention by several viewers that adding sand to clay soil creates more problems, namely creating a cement-like situation. With further research, I have found this to be true and if I were to do it again, I would try other ways of amending the soil with organic matter, compost, cover crops, etc. Thankfully, my lavender plants are thriving. Just shows how forgiving plants can be to our fumbles. Best of luck and happy gardening!

I’m a landscaper. I stumbled upon your video as many of my customers ask about lavender planting. Many plant them in wet locations due their irrigation setups. Now I simply share your video. Thank you.

Thank you. I have had such a stressful time with my clay soil and I have all the materials you suggested; sand, etc. I have planted mine and I hope they do well. One thing I did not know is that they do not need a lot of water. Now I know why my others have not survived :( thanks for info.

Many thanks - this was just the kind of video I was looking for. Simply explained, easy to follow, great visual.

Thank you 😊 best video I've seen yet on butting lavender in the ground in compact dirt

Thanks to your video my lavender was saved from my regular flower garden. And now has appropriate drainage

Enjoyed your video very much. I also have all clay soil here in Colorado. I’ll be using the same mixture of sand and pea gravel. It makes a lot of sense so I’ll be planting my lavender this way come Spring! Thank you so much.

Very helpful, thank you!

This applies to rosemary too! 😊 Thank you so much

Thank you!! I have clay soil im in Scotland UK. Really appreciate this x

Very helpful. Thanks.

I'm subscribing because you get to the point, have excellent information - needed information, and you are so natural. Thank you.

Very helpful! Thank you

Very helpful Thanks for sharing

You're so delightful to watch and listen to. All the best with your channel.

Wow nice 👍

Thank you for this video Jolene! Now I know why I have been killing ever lavender plant I had!

Very helpful. I am yet to be successful growing lavander here in my UK garden. I will try your tips.

Thank you so helpful!!!!!

Thanks for sharing

Thanks for the follow-up. I was wondering how it went. I WANT lavender but with my wet clay soil, I've had no luck. Will be trying this.

Thank you this is really helpful for me. I am in zone 3 and it seems like my lavender not growing this year. I forgot to cover it during winter season..But thanks for showing us on how to amend the soil..

That explains my lush leafy flowerless lavender!

I’ve tried planting lavender a few times and have failed so I will try your process to see if I can be more successful. Thank you!

I have clay soil as well and planted a large Lavender plant, without even amending the soil and it’s doing beautifully. I didn’t know much about Lavender back then so I appreciate the video, but, yea, I did nothing and it’s gorgeous!

Thank you for this! I followed all your instructions and planted a hidcote lavender late spring/early summer. I pruned in the fall and it kept blooming. It’s coming back on its second year! I really just ignore it and don’t water it at all. I did add garden lime around the base of the plant when planting and again early spring this year.

Thank you! Down in Georgia, we have a lot of clay, so this really helps! I'm on my way to the store to get sand, pea gravel, and soil/compost! I would have killed the beautiful Lavender plants I just bought.

Because of your vid I will once again attempt to grow lavender in my clay 'soil'. Thank you! Subscribed :-)

I'd love to see how your plants have grown this year, if you have an updated video😊

WOW... I'm glad to find your videos. I have clay/acidic soil and this information is just what I need. Do you think a little bit garden lime added into the soil can also help lavender to grow better? Thanks for your input.

You mentioned planting 2-3 apart. I have Phenomenal and I was reading it should planted 5 feet apart.

Thank you! It's really to help me a lot when I want to plant a lavender hedge with my heavy clay soil. How far apart would you recommend it to me if I want to plant a smaller bush of Lavender (16"x 16" mature), I can see different answers from 12" to 18" online.

Just planted four French Lavender plants in a clay bed that I amended with a layer of manure and a layer or compost and then a layer of mulch. I hope they will be ok. My neighbor grows a lot of Lavender and she likes to add a little bit of Lime just as they start flowering. Are your plants a variegated type? They look very attractive. Cheers!

When she added quikrete I gasped in disbelief. Then she adds sand to the clay! Recipe for turning your soil into concrete.

I was under the impression that adding sand to clay soil would only worsen the problem. Pea gravel, shale, vermiculate, organic material, etc. sure, but I thought adding sand to clay would effectively create concrete and compound the drainage problem. I'm no expert. Interested to hear your results. Thx!

Can you show an update of your lavender plants?

I live in GA and have done everything that you did except to build the mound. I have tried for several years and have not had success in growing this lovely plant.😭

Thank you for sharing. Very helpful. Do you water after you just planted them?

That’s my soil too; red clay

This is exactly the soil I have...but according to my master gardener class you don’t want sand in clay soil because turns into a cement. The compost is good because it aerates the soil . I have a layer of caleche in my yard. Tough to grow anything in it.

Thank you! I was wondering why all my lavender died. I have clay soil! Lol

How are we going to prevent weeds or grass from growing? Maybe weed prevention and some gravel on top for good look or mulch any suggestions please

How do you handle weed control? Do you use cardboard or landscaping fabric?

I used to live in a lavender growing area. This is really what our dirt looked like. I now live in an area with red clay that gets excessive rain! So, I’m curious. How did these plants fare?

Can this apply for at Houston TX? Thank you so much ❤️

I think I’m trouble I didn’t do all that with my clay like soil sadly, do I have to dig out the 20 lavenders I planted ?

I have not had much success with my lavender in heavy clay soil.....could you give us a look at what yours looks like now?

Hi there! I live in zone 9a and have the same issue with clay soil. The mound-up method seems to have lots of success for growing lavender! How often have you had to water your lavender?

What ratio of compost/topsoil mix and sand do you use ?

Thank you! I killed 10 large lavender plants last summer- too much water (underground sprinkler!) and very rich soil, wasted hundreds of dollars!

Please do a follow-up video

Both lavender and rosemary bushes in my yard have not done well without attention from me lol

What Zone are you in? How is the humidity? I really would like to see an update video of how it’s doing the good and bad.

What mulch did u use for the lavender garden?

I saw lavender in the herb section, is this the same?

From other things Ive ready, gravel + sand + clay really just makes concrete and makes the soil worse. When the water hits that layer of clay youve just formed a pool that will fill with water where the lavender is sitting.

How to plant lavender from seeds.

How are they doing now?

Did they survive is there an update video

So I can't plant it under pine tree on east side of my home

So, This is showing me that this video was recorded a year ago so I’m curious as to how is your lavender doing now?

They love alkaline soil,so that's that

Did you use quickcrete thats concrete not sand? I think you mean regular sand.

adding sand to clay soil will make it like cement

Propogate 😉. Otherwise very helpful.

Adding sand to clay? It sounds like making concrete.

I appreciate the good intentions, but this method would result in high losses for most people with clay soil after a winter or two… I’d consider redoing this video and taking down this one; this method will cost people time, money, and result in a lot of frustration