What can I do with my lavender trimmings?

July 21, 2023 3:35 PM

I've got a lot of lavender plants in my yard. When I trim them what could I do with the branches and flowers besides dumping them with my yard waste?

A couple of years ago I dug up the last bits of grass in the front of my yard and planted lavender, thymes and chamomile. The thymes and chamomile stay low so I can leave them be but I have to trim the lavender plants and feel bad about dumping all the branches and flowers in with the yard waste. It's about 200sqf/20m^2 of lavender plants so there's probably more than I'll be able to use in any event but I'd like to make use of some of it.

posted by any portmanteau in a storm to Home & Garden (19 answers total)

If you hang big bunches up to dry. someone will want it for something.
posted by amtho at 4:03 PM on July 21, 2023

If you’re on Facebook and you have a local Buy Nothing group, offer it there. If there’s a gardeners’ exchange or garden chat group for your neighborhood, even better.
posted by matildaben at 4:12 PM on July 21, 2023

Lavender sorbet recipe, tips on harvesting and drying specific to variety, at the Mountain Valley Growers blog. Lavender wreath. Lavender sachets.
posted by Iris Gambol at 4:15 PM on July 21, 2023

A nursing home!
posted by ReluctantViking at 4:43 PM on July 21, 2023

If you've got room for twenty square metres of lavender plants I'm sure you can find a square metre to devote to a compost heap. And since lavender compost is essentially pot-pourri, you'd be doing the neighbourhood a favour.
posted by flabdablet at 5:27 PM on July 21, 2023

You can sell small (20 stems) bunches wrapped in ribbon on etsy for like $5 - 7 plus shipping. If that's more work than you want, please post to your town's Buy Nothing or Local Foraging group and I'm sure someone will take it all off your hands.

I know an herbalist near Toronto who might be interested, pm me if you'd like me to connect you!
posted by ananci at 6:16 PM on July 21, 2023

Lavender teas, lavender cookies, lavender simple syrup all make fantastic gifts. Throw a sachel of flower buds around your clothes. Also good in soaps and lemon cake, and additive to ice cream.

I may be a little obsessed with lavender. People like me will happily take it from you.
posted by AlexiaSky at 6:45 PM on July 21, 2023

You could make a lavender wreath.
posted by fifthpocket at 7:40 PM on July 21, 2023

Lavender can be distilled for essential oil and used for housecleaning and pest control. Oil of Spike Lavender is used in painting as a solvent; it's a really nice alternative to turpentine.
posted by effluvia at 8:14 PM on July 21, 2023

[It is probably untoward of me to say "send them to meeeeeeeeeee".]
posted by brainwane at 9:10 PM on July 21, 2023

Iris Gambol said a bundle... but I came in to pipe in that you could make lavender wands! :)
posted by itsflyable at 10:21 PM on July 21, 2023

Lavender bags to put in your linen drawers. Make a sachet, fill with dried lavender (we always did it with flowers but since it's the plant itself that smells I think any part would work). Makes your linens and towels smell nice. Sachets can be as simple as cheesecloth and string (old sheets or T shirts would also work fine, anything that keeps it contained).

Make a small cottage industry of lavender plant resale. Lavender is ridiculously easy to root either in soil or water.
posted by How much is that froggie in the window at 11:24 PM on July 21, 2023

I would make lavender bundles and put them in all my closets and drawers.
(I would watch Rajiv Surendra make anything for hours at a time, but this was especially satisfying!)
posted by third word on a random page at 2:27 AM on July 22, 2023

The really easiest lavender bundles are from jamming it into a widowed sock, imo. Fine for drawers and jammed down the back of the couch seat.
posted by clew at 6:35 AM on July 22, 2023

Dry any lavender flowers, maybe leaves if they're really fragrant. You can get organza gift bags that are sheer. Fill with dried lavender. It discourages wool and grain moths. You can make your clothing and towels smell wonderful. When it gets old and loses scent, the bags can be re-filled. Tuck them in gifts, tuck in birthday cards and letters.

Someone on Buy Nothing, freecycle, and/or craigslist/free would be delighted to have lavender.
posted by theora55 at 8:30 AM on July 22, 2023

dump 'em in a bucket with a free sign by the side of the road (include a sign to leave the bucket!)
give them away on buy nothing
grind lavender with sugar for aromatic baking (this method helps keep the lavender from overwhelming and making your baked goods taste like soap smells)
make lavender butter for baking or spreading on baked goods
dried lavender makes interesting hot chocolate, warm milk, tea, lemonade
make lavender soap, lotion, oil
a maker's space or library might want it for projects and programming
posted by carrioncomfort at 7:13 AM on July 23, 2023

Lavender sachets are very easy to make and people love receiving them as gifts! All you need are tiny organza bags (sold in large quantities on Amazon), and dried lavender to fill them with.
posted by wandering zinnia at 3:57 AM on July 25, 2023

If you've got room for twenty square metres of lavender plants I'm sure you can find a square metre to devote to a compost heap. And since lavender compost is essentially pot-pourri, you'd be doing the neighbourhood a favour.

We've got some space for yard waste bags in a covered area outside but the rest stay in the garage and it can make the garage smell pretty vegetal. Having the lavender in there as well actually made the place smell nice.

We do have a composter but that mostly is for kitchen scraps with yard waste thrown in to keep it in balance. It doesn't bad smell enough for me to worry about having it smell better, and there's no neighbour on that side to complain about it either.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 2:24 PM on August 3, 2023

Thanks for all the suggestions! Too many other things going on to do anything but dump them this year but definitely some good ideas for next year. If nothing else I'll fill up all the spare socks in the house with it and with the rest leave them out to dry and for people to take.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 3:05 PM on August 3, 2023