The Theory behind the Lavender Bed

We’ve always more than one project on the go here at Bumblebee Cottage and keeping bees has been pretty much on the cards since the moment we acquired the orchard. We even named our cottage and living abode ‘Bumblebee Cottage’ in memory of a previous owner who himself kept bees.

But, we also wanted to acquire a chemical free environment in which to grow our own food and with the polytunnel now in full swing and with the acquisition of 50,000 or so bees in our first hive, we decided to plant a giant lavender bed to not only attract the bees, which in turn increased the chances of pollination of other plant species in and around the polytunnel, but so the bed would also look attractive to passers by as well as (in time) growing up to a metre tall and acting as a soft windbreak for the tunnel.

Late in 2022 we ordered several hundred lavender plug plants to arrive the following spring. With the polytunnel and the greenhouse, we had an environment whereby we could nurture the tiny plugs through the various stages and into larger and larger pots, before eventually planting out to form a bed.

The plugs when they arrived were smaller than one’s little finger and they were extremely delicate. But, after resting in the polytunnel for a day or two after their journey via Royal Mail, we potted them up, and then up again a month or so later into bigger pots. By the start of the warm weather they were strong and unrecognisable as the tiny newly seed plus that we’d bought.

But, lavenders really do not like boggy wet soil and whilst the clay content in the orchard is less than in areas like say London, it does still hold water. So, after measuring out exact distances between planting holes next to the polytunnel, we filled each hole with a couple of handfuls of grit/small gravel, and a couple of our own free draining home-made compost. This seems to have been effective because as well as putting on some really good growth over summer 2023, we only actually had 2 that died on us.

The bees did also seem attracted to the flowers, despite the hive being 150 metres or more away at the bottom of the orchard. And if bees got as far as the polytunnel, we can assume they helped pollinate inside the tunnel too, which may help explain the extraordinary amounts of chillies and aubergines that we harvested this same year too.

In the autumn of 2023, we cut the lavenders back to their woody stem. In the South West where we tend to avoid frosts and snow fall but have a lot of rain over winter, it’s wise to do this as the plants hold on to less water and moisture, but elsewhere in the UK where it’s colder over winter, it’s best practice to leave the pruning until the following spring.