When to Harvest Lavender & How to Use Lavender Leaves

If you want to use lavender in your herbal teas, oils, baths and other medicines, you might be wondering which part of the plant to use. People often ask me, do you only use the flowers? Can you use lavender leaves? And when do you harvest which one? Check out the video below and find out how to use lavender leaves, plus more tips for harvesting and growing this amazing medicinal plant.

Uses and Benefits of Lavender Leaves

While lavender is well known for its flowers, lavender leaves are also highly medicinal. The leaf contains strong aromatics and antimicrobial and antispasmodic properties. I use lavender leaves throughout the year in herbal teas, steams, baths, and more.

In my herbal oils class, people are always asking, “Does lavender leaf make a good oil?” It does. Lavender leaves and flowers make an incredible herbal oil that we can make for pain, as an antispasmodic and anti-inflammatory.

Lavender leaves are also one of the main herbs I use to fumigate and steam my house when people are not well, or after I burn something on the stove and need to freshen the air.

You can even use lavender leaves and flowers to make herbal pillows. Fragrant lavender sachets are wonderful to put in your drawer or in the car.

Depending on your climate, you might even be able to harvest and use lavender leaves all year round, whereas the flowers can be short-lived.

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When to Harvest Lavender Flowers and Leaves

When harvesting any plant, you want most of the energy to be in the part of the plant that you’re going to use. So the best time to harvest lavender flowers is when they are popping all out and the energy is in the flowers.

One of the things I get asked is, “Can you let lavender flowers dry on the plant and then harvest them once they are dry?” The answer to that is no. The dried flowers are actually not at their optimum stage anymore. You don’t want to let the flowers dry on the plant. Instead, harvest the plant when the flower is in its peak. You can then dry your herbs after harvesting them.

We can also harvest lavender leaves when the plant is in flower because there’s so much aromatic medicine in the leaf. With most plants, you harvest the leaf before the energy goes into the flower, but lavender is an exception due to the incredible aromatics that are still in the leaf.

I harvest the leaf, flower, and upper part of the stem where it’s still flexible and doesn’t crack. Once it gets down to where it cracks, that’s too woody for medicine making.

What to Do With Lavender Stems

Over the years, I started to wonder, “What can I do with all these lavender stems?” I started wrapping them into little stick bundles with string or pretty embroidery thread and beads. People love them! I use them as offerings or start fire with them or put the little bundles in a drawer. When I wrap a gift, I’ll put them on the gifts. That’s the way I use all of the plant.

When is the Best Time of Year to Plant Lavender?

Would you like to grow your own lavender? I don’t grow lavender from cuttings or seed. I have an amazing nursery near me that has over 50 varieties of lavender plants. I use Lavandula angustifolia (English lavender), which is a good, hardy lavender.

The best time to plant lavender is in the early fall because it’s a perennial. You want to get perennials in the ground when there’s still some warmth left, so they’re not fried by the summer sun. Really take care of the lavender plants that fall and overwinter them, if you need to cover them depending on your hardiness zone. In the spring, they will really start growing.

If you don’t grow lavender plants yourself, you can buy high-quality dried lavender at Mountain Rose Herbs, or visit one of these 193 organic lavender farms!

I would love to hear from you! Have you ever used lavender leaves in your herbal remedies? Do you grow and harvest your own lavender? Please share in the comments below.