16 0417 294 778 A Touch of Grass Garden Care GARDEN CLEANUPS / REJUVENATION & MAKEOVERS A SPECIALTY We offer an experienced, professional and reliable service Call Jeremy on ... Est. Gold Coast since 2001 Let us create your new and rejuvenated garden where you can sit back, relax and enjoy your tranquil surroundings ... Specialising Garden Makeovers & Rejuvenation * Garden Care * Plant Selection * Soft Landscaping Gardening by Kate Heffernan Honorary Life Member Friends of GCRBG, Botanic Garden Consultant Lavender is a much loved but often frustrating plant to grow in our humid climate. The genus name is derived from the Latin word ‘lavare’ for bathing or washing. The natural range of 41 Lavendula species accepted by Royal Botanic Gardens Kew is in dry, warm areas of the Iberian Peninsula and Mediterranean Coast and North Africa, to the Middle East, and as far east as India. This beautiful species has a long and interesting history because of its unique combination of volatile oils which are present in both leaves and flowers. Its reputation for healing, as a fragrance and an insecticide began with the Egyptian, Greek, Roman, and Middle Eastern peoples and remains important for its essential oils. Up to 100 phytochemicals (chemical compounds produced by plants) play an important role in the plants’ protection against insects, animals, fungi, and bacterial diseases. While some of these are known to cause allergic reactions in some people, lavender is used extensively in lotions and balms, particularly natural products, as well as perfumes and cosmetics. Lavender oil was added to sphagnum moss as a salve for wounds during the First World War. The phytochemicals in some Mediterranean lavenders are as volatile as the oils in Australian Eucalypt trees and are equally combustible. The soft texture of the silvery lavender leaves is a result of indumenta, minute surface hairs that insulate the plant from extreme heat. The flowers are arranged in a spike, and depending on species or cultivar may vary from purple through violet to blue, as well as pink or white. It is useful if planted near vegetable beds and fruit trees to attract a wide range of pollinators that include butterflies and moths, bees, wasps, and hoverflies. Its charm as a garden plant has been maintained over the centuries. Species and cultivar forms of lavender are readily available in garden centres and plant nurseries. Of the many species of lavender, one of the toughest to survive the Gold Coast climate and soils is French Lavender Lavendula dentata. Recognisable for its toothed leaf edges this species origins are Mediterranean Basin countries where soils are shallow, well-drained, and based on limestone alkaline substrates. It is suggested that applying lime or dolomite to the soil a few weeks before planting is useful as most Gold Coast soils are slightly acid. Lavender also grows well in pots, especially terracotta which allows air to enter through its porous surface. Regrettably, some exotic plants find Australian soils and climate too perfect and can spread easily by windborne seed as is the case Lavendula stoechas. It has become a Significant Environmental weed in South Australia and an Environmental weed in Victoria and parts of NSW and Western Australia. Perhaps this species should be on the watch list in Queensland.
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