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kawaiineko_gardener

lavender and rosemary

Please don't tell me to go to the herb gardening forum, this is preemptive. I realize the title is about herbs, but it's more about the type of soil to use for them, which is why I posted it here.

I just know they are very finicky to grow as far as herbs grow. I know they hate wet feet, and prefer a 'dry soil'.

I'm wondering if Al's Gritty Mix, would be the best soil mixture for them or is it not suitable? It's not an actual, real soil (as in dirt you find on the ground) but rather a 'soilless' mixture.

Below is the recipe for it...

Pine or fir bark in 1/8 - 3/8" size (no fines)

Screened Turface MVP

Crushed granite (Gran-I-Grit, in grower size) or #2 cherrystone

gypsum

If Al's gritty mix isn't a suitable 'soil' for lavender and rosemary, can anybody give any suggestions, advice, and/or a 'soil recipe' for them?

Since they prefer a specific moisture level and a specific type of soil, I'd just like to give them what they prefer, rather than use a type of soil that wouldn't be suitable for them, and cause them to become waterlogged.

Comments (6)

  • shermthewerm
    12 years ago

    I don't know about specific soil type, but here in Portland, OR with all our rain, the only way I can keep these guys alive is by planting in a raised bed. This way they don't get wet feet. I have one rosemary plant still going strong after 10 years in a raised bed.

  • toxcrusadr
    12 years ago

    I have grown nice rosemary plants in clay soil by amending with some organic matter in a raised bed. I don't think they are all that fussy. Mine never get that huge because they're not hardy at this latitude so I have to consider them annuals or dig them up.

    Are you growing these in pots or are you planning a bed for them? If this is a potting mix others will have to comment. It seems to be heavy on the mineral side and light on organic matter. Your recipe might work fine but you might just have to try it and see. BTW I'm not sure what "Turface MVP" is.

    Garden wise, I would think a silty or sandy soil that does not get waterlogged would be fine for them.

  • mad_gallica (z5 Eastern NY)
    12 years ago

    IME, neither are at all fussy. Planted in heavy clay soil, in an area subject to torrential downpours, both do perfectly fine. Rosemary lives in pots because it isn't hardy here. English lavender is a normal perennial. Neither really likes it dry, but does noticably better with a lot more water than people expect. We've been living in a rain forest for the last few months, and this hasn't been a problem.

  • jolj
    12 years ago

    Try a form search at the top of the page.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Rosemary soil

  • Kimmsr
    12 years ago

    To get a good idea of the soils these plants need to gor in think of where they originated from. Both are from the Mediterranian area where the soils are rocky and thin, as I recall from school limestone based. These may grow very lush and green if a soilless mix but have very little flavor so if you are growing them as decorative plants tht might be a good mix. However, if you are growing them for herbs and want the flavors then a leaner, meaner soil is needed.

  • reg_pnw7
    12 years ago

    Yes, I haven't found either to be all that difficult, just as with most plants, you have to give them what they need and then they're fine on their own. That means, for these two, lean well-drained soils. High in mineral content, low in organic, and fast drainage. Gravelly or sandy soils are good, but I've grown them both in heavy clay as well - no amendments of any kind, and no supplemental watering.

    Lavender is grown in fields as a crop here, in high-rainfall western Washington. The rainshadow northeast of the Olympics is the best place, but even here in very rainy Olympia people grow fields of lavender for cutting. Glacial outwash soils, usually, which means sandy loams generally. All our soils are nitrogen deficient.

    The nursery starts are as far as I can tell grown in regular soil-less potting medium. I'd stay away from any media that incorporate sources of nutrients - neither lavender nor rosemary like much in the way of nitrogen.

    I grow rosemary in the veggie garden, but off in a corner where I can not water or fertilize it. It freezes most years. Lavender grows in the raised rose bed. It gets watered along with the roses, but no fertilizer except manure once a year along with all the other companion plants. Really, neither is all that fussy.

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