If climate change really means our summer gardens will be hot and dry, lavender is a good plant to invest in...
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| Paul Abbott shows Gardens Monthly editor Liz Dobbs the trial beds at Isle of Wight Lavender
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'Paul has plans to launch their own lavender varieties, with the prefix
'Wight' and to conduct growing trials for varieties with a dense structure and hardiness.'
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| Lavender 'Sugarberry Ruffles'
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Lavenders tolerate hot, dry conditions
and don't need much watering, so they
are assured of a place in gardens of the
future.
The Abbott family hope this is true as
they have turned their family farm into
a specialist lavender nursery – Isle of Wight Lavender – comprising 25
acres of lavender fields with tea rooms,
a distillery and gift shop.
'The fields are harvested in July,' says
Paul. 'Our still takes 140lb of flowers and
after a three-hour distillation, the result is
1.5 litres of oil plus lavender water.'
Trials of dense, hardy varieties
New curved beds are being created in
memory of their mother Margaret Abbott,
and they have a National Collection of
200 varieties. Paul has plans to launch
their own lavender varieties, with the prefix
'Wight' and to conduct growing trials
for varieties with a dense structure and
hardiness. He has started looking at
varieties from other parts of the world.
such as the dentate
Lavendula lallardi 'African
Pride' with its long, soft-look stems
trained into a little pyramid effect.
Plant a lavender hedge
Paul has tips for gardeners planning
a dry garden. 'For a hedge, choose a
variety with 60cm (2ft) spread, plant
45cm (18in) apart to ensure good air
circulation. If your soil is too heavy to
grow lavender, try raised beds with 80%
gravel added in. Choose a variety with
45cm (18in) spread like 'Little Lady', a
beautiful mid-blue flower.'
Look further
*For travel to and from the Isle of Wight visit
Wightlink Ferries
For more on climate change visit:
* Climate change solutions
* Protection against climate change
* Tomorrow's climate, today's challenge
denotes Subscriber-only content | Thursday 21 August 2008 | Help | Glossary 
