The pages found in FAQ section cover common questions we are often asked. If you need more information feel free to contact us.

What Is Lavender?
Lavender is of the family Labatiae or Lamiaciae - the mint family. Native of the Mediterranean region it is now grown worldwide and in the last few years a fledgling industry has emerged on mainland Australia. "Bridestowe Estate" in Tasmania had its infancy in the late 1920s when the Denny family brought seed from France. Bridestowe now supplies around 10% of the world's pure Lavender oil. Good quality Lavender and Lavandin oil is now being produced on the mainland and Monaro Country Lavender Co-Op is at the forefront of this quality production. Lavender plants can come in a variety of colours everything from green to white to pink to many shades of purple and blue. Lavender is very hardy and perfectly suited to the harsh climate of the Monaro , in fact the climate actually helps our producers to achieve the exceptional standards that they do.

When is the best time to plant?

On the Monaro the best time to plant is Autumn.  The soil is still warm and generally we have good Autumn rains.

Lavender can also be planted in Spring but check your weather maps as often we get very warm windy weather.  These conditions are not ideal for planting as your tubestock will become stressed very easily.

Remember after you have planted you will need to water the plants in and make sure they have enough water until the roots get down.

What is the best lavender for the Monaro area?
There is a variety of both the L. angustifolia and L.x intermedia. Your end use for the the plants will decide the varieties you plant. Most suitable plants for oil include:
L.x intermedia 'Grosso', 'Super' and 'Margaret' are particularly popular for oil production. L.angustifolia 'Bee', 'Swampy' and 'Egerton Blue' are our preferred oil plants. Most suitable plants for Stripped and Dried include:
L. x intermedia 'Super', 'Miss Donnington', 'Impress Purple' and 'Margaret' are all widely grown for stripped and dried production. L.angustifolia 'Egerton Blue', 'Munstead' and 'Hidcote' are also popular. Most suitable plants for Culinary include:
It is recommended to only use the L.angustifolia varieties, 'Avice Hill', 'Rosea' and Egerton Blue' are popular. How do you grow lavender? All lavenders prefer a sunny, well drained site. When establishing a commercial planting, you must pay attention to good soil preparation, planting on the contour, leaving sufficient room between rows for use of any machinery. You also need to decide on a weed control method, this is particularly important when the plants are young. While harvesting can act as pruning, it is important to keep that bun shape typical of commerical lavender plantings. This may mean that you will need to come back and do further pruning. All lavenders need sufficent, regular water when they are establishing themselves and require a side dressing of fertiliser in the Autumn after harvest and in the Spring prior to new growth. 

How long do lavender plants last?

A. In a garden setting they can last many. many years. In a commercial setting, you should be referring to your farm records to examine production levels from around 10 years on. Naturally in a commercial set up you would replace plants in a staged manner once production levels began to fall.

Please bookmark this page as it will be continually developed with more Q & A's and sections covering different areas of growing lavender.