Lavender is harvested for its flowers, not its leaves, and the timing of that flower harvest makes all the difference. Cut the spikes too early and the buds have little scent; cut them too late, when the flowers are fully open, and the scent fades fast and the buds shatter when you dry them. The sweet spot is when the buds are plump and coloured but only the lowest few flowers have opened — that is when the essential oils are at their peak.
Lavender takes 90–120 days to mature, according to the Garden Grove crop data. It is a hardy herb in the Lamiaceae family with low water needs. For the full growing picture, see our growing guide for lavender, and use the Harvest Date Calculator to work out your picking window from your sowing date. Browse the full guides hub and the tools hub for more harvest timing advice, and check your local extension service for dates suited to your climate.
Lavender at a glance
| Growing factor | What lavender needs |
|---|---|
| Days to maturity | 90–120 |
| Category | herb |
| Family | Lamiaceae |
| Cold tolerance | hardy |
| Water needs | low |
Signs lavender is ready to pick
The sign to read is the flower spike. A lavender spike is ready when the buds along its length are plump, fully coloured — deep purple, lilac or blue depending on the variety — and the bottom one or two flowers have just opened. If all the buds are still tight and green, wait a few days; if half the spike is in open flower, you are already late and the scent will be weaker.
Check the whole plant, because spikes do not all ripen at once. The spikes on the sunny side ripen first, and those in the centre of the bush ripen last. Walk around the plant and cut the ripe spikes individually rather than shearing the whole plant at once. The foliage should be grey-green and healthy — yellow or brown foliage is a sign of wet soil, which lavender dislikes.
How to pick lavender
Cut lavender spikes with clean scissors or secateurs, snipping each stem a few inches below the flower head, just above a leaf node. Gather the stems in small handfuls as you cut, and keep the stems long — long stems are easier to bundle for drying. Do not pull spikes off by hand, because that tears the plant, and do not cut into the woody base of the plant, which will not regrow.
Harvest in the morning, after the dew has dried but before the heat of the day — that is when the essential oils are most concentrated. Do not harvest lavender on a wet day, because damp buds dry slowly and can go mouldy. Take up to half the spikes at the main harvest and leave the rest for the bees, which love lavender flowers. For the full growing picture, see our growing guide for lavender.
The best time of day to harvest
Harvest lavender in the morning, after the dew has dried but before the sun gets hot. That is when the leaves are dry, crisp and most aromatic, because the essential oils are at their most concentrated after a cool night. Leaves picked in the afternoon heat are often limp and less flavourful, and wet leaves picked while the dew is still on them dry slowly and can go mouldy in storage.
Choose a dry day for harvesting if you can, and avoid picking after rain, when the foliage is wet and heavy. If you must pick on a damp day, spread the cuttings out in a single layer in a ventilated spot for an hour before you bundle or bag them. And get the harvest out of the sun straight away — a basket of cut herbs left in the sun for an hour will wilt and lose much of its aroma. Morning picking is a small habit that makes a real difference to flavour and keeping quality.
How often to pick
Lavender is a pick-little-and-often crop, and regular picking is part of good plant care, not just a way to get a harvest. Once the plant is established, you can take a small picking every week or two through the growing season, always leaving enough growth for the plant to recover. Each cut encourages the plant to branch and push out fresh, tender growth, so a plant that is picked regularly stays bushy and productive far longer than one that is left alone.
Do not wait for a single big harvest unless the plant is one you cut whole for drying — for most herbs, steady, small pickings give you better flavour and a healthier plant. Take a few sprigs from several plants rather than a large handful from one, and always leave at least two-thirds of the plant intact. If you go away for a few weeks, ask someone to pick the herbs, or cut the plant back before you leave so it regrows while you are gone.
What happens if lavender is left too long
Lavender left unpicked flowers fully, sets seed and loses its scent. The open flowers fade, the buds dry on the stem and shatter at a touch, and the plant's energy goes into seed rather than new growth. An unharvested plant is still beautiful and still feeds the bees, but the harvest window for fragrant buds is gone for the year.
If you have missed the window, cut the spent flower heads off anyway — removing them encourages a second flush of flowers in late summer on many varieties. Use the faded flowers in the compost, not in the drying shed, because they have little scent left. The lesson is to check the spikes every few days once the buds colour up, because the peak lasts only about a week.
How to store lavender
Drying is the point of the lavender harvest. Tie the cut stems into small bundles — no more than an inch thick at the stems, so air can circulate — and hang them upside down in a warm, dark, well-ventilated spot for one to two weeks. Darkness matters: sunlight fades the colour and weakens the scent. Use the Herb Drying Calculator to work out drying times for your conditions.
When the buds are fully dry and brittle, strip them gently off the stems into a jar or bag, and store them in a dark cupboard. Dried lavender buds keep their scent for a year or more. You can also use the dried bundles whole — hang them in wardrobes, or stand them in a vase. Do not store lavender in a damp place, because the buds will absorb moisture and go mouldy.
Succession and continuous harvest tips
Lavender is a hardy perennial with low water needs, so there is no annual sowing — a single plant can live for a decade or more. The main harvest comes once a year, in early to mid-summer, and many varieties give a smaller second flush of flowers in late summer if you cut the first flush promptly and the weather stays warm.
Prune lavender lightly after flowering each year, cutting back the flowered stems to just above the green foliage — never cut into the old, woody base. A plant pruned this way stays compact and bushy; one that is never pruned becomes woody, leggy and sparse, with flowers only at the tips of long bare stems. Replace plants every eight to ten years, when they become too woody to rejuvenate.
If you are also growing other herbs and vegetables, our guides to harvesting chamomile and harvesting borage follow the same picking principles, and check your local extension service for advice suited to your area.
Frequently asked questions
When is lavender ready to harvest?
When the buds are plump and fully coloured and the bottom one or two flowers have just opened, typically 90–120 days after spring growth starts.
What time of day should I cut lavender?
In the morning, after the dew has dried but before the heat of the day — that is when the essential oils are most concentrated.
How do I dry lavender?
Tie small bundles and hang them upside down in a warm, dark, ventilated spot for one to two weeks, then strip the dry buds into a jar.
Can I harvest lavender twice a year?
Often yes — cutting the first flush promptly encourages a smaller second flush in late summer on many varieties.
Why did my dried lavender lose its scent?
It was probably cut too late, when the flowers were fully open, or dried in sunlight. Cut at the bud stage and dry in the dark.