How to make a lavender hedge

Lavender makes a wonderfully scented flowering hedge. In summer, the flowers are alive with bees and other pollinators. In winter the evergreen structure makes a neat low edging to a border, or a dividing line between areas of the garden. Planting in autumn gives the roots a chance to establish in the warm soil before winter.

Choose a site where the soil is well drained and there's plenty of light. There are many choices of cultivar. Compact forms such as traditional blue ‘Hidcote’ and ‘Munstead’ are the easiest to keep neat. Lavender flower colours range from purple, blue and pinks to pure-white forms. Once established, lavender is fairly drought tolerant and will do well in coastal plots or gravel gardens.

Prepare the soil before planting. If you're lucky and have a thick layer of dark, fertile garden soil with good drainage, you'll need to do very little except add some slow-release fertiliser and mulch with organic matter regularly – both heavy and light soils improve with plenty of organic matter. Mix in grit to heavy soils to help improve drainage. You can dig it all in, but adding compost to planting holes, followed up with regular annual surface mulching, is fine.