What is the best soil for growing Lavender?
Question:
I am looking for a plot of land in Maine that is suitable for a lavender farm. Do you know where the best land/soil would be for that? And do you have any other tips on what to look for?
Answer:
Generally, our team works to advise home gardeners, as opposed to potential commercial operations, so this may be outside our scope. But I will offer what help I can. Lavender needs well-drained soil, especially through winter. Sandy, sandy loam, or gravelly soils are ideal. It will struggle with heavy clay or poorly drained soils. Moreover, lavender prefers more alkaline soil (so a higher pH) but pH can be adjusted using soil test recommendations for any soil. The Utah State Univ Extension has a nice info sheet for growing lavender here.
The USDA has a really neat tool called the Web Soil Survey that will let you do some early research into what parts of Maine might have the soil you’re looking for. You can zoom to Maine on the map, use the AOI tool in the icons just above the map to select an area, and download information about the soil there. It may not be granular enough to shop real estate, but hopefully it will provide useful information to refine your search.
Good luck and happy gardening.