Lavender is one of the most popular herbs to grow, whether in pots or out in the garden. The plant is not only beautiful with its tiny flowers in varying shades of purple, but has a heavenly fragrance that lingers long after the flowers have been picked. There are many lavender companion plants that can add to that fragrance in your home or in your garden.
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Indeed, lavender is just the thing for sachets and is prized in perfumes and soaps. Not only this, but lavender is edible and can be used in vinegar, jelly and even ice cream. The flowers and leaves are often mixed with other herbs and sprinkled over soups, stews and salads.
Lavender grows best in full sun, but needs to be protected from the wind. It prefers soil that’s a bit alkaline and doesn’t like too much watering.
Related: Grow Lavender Indoors, French Lavender, Spanish Lavender
Companion Planting
When it comes to companion plants, lavender grows well with just about anything. It does not have any incompatibles, which means there are no plants that hinder its growth or put it at a higher risk for disease or pests. Many gardening experts believe that the best lavender companion plants are those that share its needs for sunlight, soil, watering and fertilizing, even if they are to be grown in pots.
One thing that’s great about companion plants is that they can bring more beneficial insects to an herb garden. Bees love lavender, so having lavender in a garden is a sure way to attract bees to your other plants. The scent of lavender can also deter insect pests from other plants in your garden.
Here are some herbs to consider that not only grow well with lavender, but also pair well in flavor, both in a garden or in a potted indoor plant. If you’re having issues with your lavender turning brown, you may not have your lavender next to the right plants.
French Tarragon
Of the two most familiar types of tarragon, Russian or French, French is preferred for cooking. French tarragon has an ability to enhance the flavor of anything it’s added to, whether it’s scrambled eggs, sauces, stews or herb mixtures. This includes herb mixtures where lavender is an ingredient. Like lavender, French tarragon likes full sun and warm temperatures and soil that ranges from neutral to slightly acidic.
It’s a light feeder and needs average watering. Though, like lavender, it doesn’t do well with “wet feet.” Some experts recommend planting it in soil meant for cacti and other succulents, like rocky soil. French tarragon isn’t grown from seed but from cuttings. These are best taken and put in their own pots in early spring.
Sage
Planted in the garden, sage can grow to be a good sized shrub after a couple of years, but it does well in a pot as long as it gets full sun. As with lavender, sage must have good drainage, even though it’s not fussy about soil. Though sage can be grown from seeds, it is an uncertain prospect. It’s better to grow sage from cuttings, and some gardeners replace the plants after they become woody.
However, sage is a perennial and can be productive for years. Sage does well with average watering and does not need much fertilizing. It is a plant that does best in warm weather, though it can withstand winters outdoors in a milder climate. This makes it a great companion plant to lavender.
Sage and lavender both work well in a smoke cleanse for cleansing energies, and you can read how to dry the leaves of both to create a sage bundle, which makes it even better as a lavender companion plant!
Marjoram
A relative of oregano, marjoram is a bit milder and a little sweeter and can substitute for it in a pinch. It is very tender to frost, so the plant should be brought in during northern winters. It does well if it is kept outdoors in the south. Marjoram does best in full sun and in soil that is well-drained and best in dry soil.
As with tarragon, it might do well in cactus soil. The soil should also be neutral or just slightly acidic, with a pH no lower than 6.5.
It’s also a light feeder and does not need much watering. Marjoram seeds are tiny, so they should be placed on the soil in the pot and not covered if growing from seed. This is a low maintenance plant that will work well as a plant with lavender.
Oregano
Oregano is a perennial plant, and like marjoram it likes hot weather, full sun and well-drained soil that’s mildly acidic to mildly alkaline.
It is also a tougher plant than marjoram and won’t need to be taken indoors when the weather turns cold. As lavender can also handle freezing winters, it makes a great lavender companion plant!
It doesn’t need a lot of watering and like marjoram has tiny seeds that should not be covered when sown. Some gardeners claim that pruning the plant hard and harvesting the leaves when it’s only about half a foot tall makes oregano strong and bushy. Others don’t harvest until the plant flowers, as flowering concentrates the oils in the leaves.
You may also be interested in: transplanting lavender
Rosemary
Like sage, rosemary can become a good sized shrub if it is planted in the ground. It is also a heat-loving plant and should be brought inside during the winter in cooler climates. Other than this, it is a hardy plant that can tolerate a great range of soils from the very acidic to the very alkaline. It bears up well during a drought and in fact doesn’t like too much water. Overwatering causes the needle-like leaves to turn brown and drop off.
In addition to this, the scents of rosemary and lavender pair well together, creating a beautiful aroma in any garden or growing in your home, making rosemary not only compatable with growing next to lavender but overall great for companion planting with lavender.
Propagation of rosemary is easy. All you need to do is snip off a bit, and plant them in a light compost. Rosemary can be grown from seed, but like sage, the seeds are unreliable and do not stay viable for long. Even fertile seeds can take as long as three weeks to sprout. If you do plant seeds, make sure the pot has good drainage and the soil stays moist.
Keep reading: Rosemary vs Lavender
Caraway
Unlike the other mentioned lavender companion plants, caraway is a biennial herb, which means it usually lives for two years, though it’s grown as an annual in most places. Like the other lavender companion plants mentioned, it is a warm season plant that blooms in spring and produces its seeds in the fall. All parts of the plant can be eaten, and the roots are often substituted for carrots while the leaves are used in salads and stews.
Harvest the seeds when they turn brown but before they fall. Caraway likes soil that’s acidic to neutral, is a light feeder and does not need much water, though it must be watered evenly. The plant’s long taproot requires a deep pot.
Have you decided which of these lavender companion plants to grow alongside your lavender? All will create a beautiful aroma, and bring in more bees for the garden as well! Keep in mind lavender will work with so many other plants in your garden as well!
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