Landscaping with lavender – 15 ways to use this classic shrub in your planting design

1. Design A Garden Path With Lavender Borders

Every garden path needs an edging of lavender that you can brush your fingers through as you walk by. Whenever lavender is used it's always important to ensure that at least some is planted close to a path so that the delicious scent is released as you brush past.

2. Try Underplanting Trees With Lavender

Why leave soil bare when you can make the most of the space underneath trees by filling it with pretty plants. This layered look maximizes interest and is known as underplanting. It's a great way of landscaping around trees by introducing a tapestry of plants.

3. Plant Lavender Next To Stone Walls

Imagine an old stone garden wall baking in the sunshine with lavender bushes growing next to it. It's a staple look in cottage gardens, where of course fragrance is the cornerstone of any design and helps to attract pollinators too.

4. Choose Partner Plants That Lavender Loves

Lavender is well known as a traditional companion for landscaping with roses, and when combined with herbaceous plants such as delphiniums, Salvia caradonna and fleabane (Erigeron karvinskianus), it creates a  gentle, pretty scheme. Combining lavender with other plants like santolina ‘Edward Bowles’ with its cream button-like flowers and purple sage (Salvia officinalis 'Purpurascens') will take the scheme in another direction altogether giving a more Mediterranean look and feel to your landscaping with lavender ideas.

5. Plant Lavender Around Seats

Every garden needs a comfortable place to sit, somewhere you can enjoy being immersed in all it has to offer. The planting can add a sensory experience to the enjoyment of the garden, somewhere that offers a restful interlude for your outdoor seating ideas.

6. Add Lavender To A Herb Garden

If you're looking for lovely herb garden ideas try including lavender in the mix. It's a magnet for pollinating insects so will attract all the right visitors. Plus of course lavender itself is a herb so it will slot seamlessly into the mix. When you've chosen a bed for your herb garden add repeat planting of lavender throughout in a loose and naturalistic style to tie together the design.

7. Border Steps With Lavender

Framing steps either side with swathes of uniform planting is a really eye-catching design. The idea of creating a stairway of flowers is one of our favorite looks when landscaping with hydrangeas too. There is quite a choice when it comes to lavender varieties to use to create a look like this. The hardy, low-growing 'Hidcote' is a good choice for garden edging ideas but the main thing to remember is that all lavender varieties love a sunny position. So give your lavender what it needs by making it feel at home in a sheltered sun trap that offers protection.

8. Include Lavender In A Sensory Garden Design

The soft mauve-blue palette and beautiful scent of lavender, as well as the soothing buzz of bees hovering over the flowers on a summer’s day, are a heavenly addition to any garden but particularly for sensory garden ideas. The best variety to choose is English lavender (Lavandula angustifolia), which is strongly scented. French lavender (Lavandula stoecha) has flowers that are a different shape to the English varieties, topped by pretty feathery tufts, but their scent is not as strong.

9. Landscape With Lavender In A Rock Garden

Soft cushions of planting interspersed with pebbles and rocks is a landscaping with lavender choice that suits most spaces and can be left to evolve from year to year. It's one of the low maintenance garden border ideas that takes inspiration from the natural scenery of the Mediterranean.

10. Introduce A Smartly Clipped Border

Imagine the wonderful scent and color you would enjoy on warm days right through summer if you were passing by on your way to this garden retreat! A border of lavender works particularly well as a smart lawn edging idea and for zoning different areas of the garden.

11. Frame A Doorway With Lavender

As you walk up your path one of the most welcoming sensations on arriving home is being hit by a waft of delicious fragrance. Planting lavender is one of the best front porch ideas to really give your entrance the standout factor whether you decide to opt for a traditional or more modern garden design.

12. Put Lavender Top For Med-Inspired Gardens

Plants that work for Mediterranean garden ideas predominantly love hot and sunny conditions with free-draining soil. This suits lavender perfectly. Typically it will have a gravel mulch to help keep any moisture in the soil and reduce the need for watering.

Lavender is a key component in Mediterranean gardens design-wise too, as repeat planting adds, shape and form creating a rhythm that guides the eye through the planting for a cohesive feel.

13. Mix Lavender Plants With Topiary

Strong structural elements like evergreen topiary paired with lavender has been used for centuries in grand country gardens, but the same technique can be used to great effect in smaller gardens too. Smart clipped topiary such as lollipop-shaped trees and low hedging contrasted with beds of soft planting works by introducing a touch of elegance to landscaping with lavender ideas.

14. Use Lavender For Ground Cover

Low-growing varieties of lavender can be mixed in with other flowers and planted densely in garden borders and beds as hard working ground cover plants. Not only does this give the effect of full planting (the idea is no bare soil should be seen) but it means there's less chance of weeds popping up too. Aim to create a tapestry effect by using different flowers and foliage to add interesting shapes and textures. Choose the best low maintenance ground cover plants and you will create a beautiful garden that will virtually take care of itself.

15. Create A Wow Factor Front Yard With Lavender

One of the easiest ways to improve the look of your home is to smarten up the front yard by giving it a makeover. This is where landscaping with lavender comes in. It will create a welcoming entrance as well as being an easy, low-maintenance option that looks both modern and stylish.

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