How to Make a Lavender Topiary

First, I have to say this lavender topiary is a work in progress. I thought I’d share it in case you’d like to try this too. Lavender is in season right now and easy to find. As with all gardening projects, it takes time to see your results.

Lavender grows and spreads quickly when planted in the ground. For that reason, I thought this would be a good plant to practice making a topiary. I have a few lavender plants that I had planted and dug up because they spread too quickly for my garden.

The easiest way to do this is to start with a single lavender plant.

Lavender plants have a single root stem. First, you’ll need to begin trimming off much of the plant. I worked my way from the outside in. As you work your way in, start to single out one shoot that will be your keeper. Everything else gets cut off.

Once you get it trimmed back to one single shoot, trim off all leaves and shoots from the bottom up to the point where you want your topiary to grow.

I bundled up the trimmed lavender so it didn’t go to waste. You can use this up any way you’d like. I like to make lavender and bee pollen soap with mine. I also have some hanging in the kitchen for fragrance.

Your topiary will need support to help keep it straight. You can use a stick or purchase some plant stakes. When you tie it to the stake you’ll want to use a material that’s flexible so that it doesn’t dig into the stem and damage it.

Cut-up pantyhose are often used for this purpose by landscapers and gardeners.

Here is how my lavender looks after trimming. As it grows, continue to shape the top and trim the bottom. Pinching off everything below will send the energy up to the topiary.

It doesn’t look like much now, but it’s staying healthy. Eventually, this is sort of the result I’m hoping to achieve.

I also picked up a rooting hormone to try and root some of the cuttings to use later for more topiaries. Unfortunately, I didn’t have much luck with that. The plant died within a week. I’m going to try that again to see if I have better luck.

As for the care and maintenance of the lavender topiary, here are a few quick Q&As from what I’ve learned.

How do you care for a lavender topiary?

Lavender prefers full sun. They are relatively low maintenance overall. Let them dry out a bit between waterings, they don’t do well with overwatering.

What kind of lavender is used for a topiary?

English lavender is hardy and often what is used for topiaries. However, other varieties may also be suitable. It’s fun to experiment so why not try other varieties if that’s what you prefer?

is lavender topiary an indoor plant?

Lavender can be grown indoors under the right conditions. Lots of sun and weekly waterings. However, I’ve found in my area (NJ) they do very well outside. I leave them out all winter and they come back again in late spring.

Rosemary topiary

Lastly, I also made a second topiary using Rosemary. I did it exactly the same way as I did the lavender.

The rosemary plants were very inexpensive at the garden center. I want to have one to keep on my kitchen counter. It’s thriving outside right now so I’m hesitant to bring it in yet.

Do you need a better visual on this one? Here’s a quick video showing the process of beginning a lavender topiary.

What do you think? Are you interested in trying to make your own topiary?

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