Lavender is a beautiful plant known for its calming scent and colourful purple flowers, but you can help it grow even stronger this spring by adding one natural ingredient to its soil. 

Jean, a gardener and founder of Green Jeane accidentally used a bad sand mix in the soil for her herb plants but was amazed her lavender was still thriving despite the mistake

It turns out the reason the lavender plant was doing so well is that Jean had added eggshells into its soil, and this natural fertiliser had kept the flower strong. 

She said: “The lavender also had some of that old sandy mix but also lots of eggshells mixed in, so it was doing much better and I didn't bother to remove the sand when repotting it.

“I'm amazed at how much bigger and healthier the lavender looks!”

It may seem strange, but eggshells contain a lot of calcium which helps strengthen plants and will also improve the drainage of the soil to prevent lavender from becoming waterlogged. 

Lavender plants do best in neutral to slightly alkaline soil which means they will greatly benefit from eggshells, which can help reduce the acidity in the soil. 

Jean recommended eggs as a simple and natural way to feed lavenders if you wish to make their soil healthier, but warned it can be annoying to collect the eggshells needed. 

She said: “My favourite amendment to lighten soil is simply dried and crushed eggshells. I like using Perlite, but it's very dusty and of course you have to buy it.

Jean added: “The only downside to using eggshells is that you have to be patient and save up a lot (or eat lots of eggs!) but I don't repot that often, so I usually have just enough.”

How to use eggshells as a natural lavender feed

All you need to do is rinse the eggshells thoroughly after cooking to get rid of any remaining yolk residue as any food left can attract pests as well as be very smelly. 

Jean said: “If you're going to use eggshells, be sure to rinse them first and dry thoroughly (a day or two) before crushing. Sticky membranes and yolk reside left inside the shell will make it clump together and have an odour.” 

Once you have enough eggshells, place them on a baking tray and cook them in the oven at 200C for 10 to 15 minutes. 

When the time is up, use a rolling pin or other large object to crush the eggshells into small pieces. 

It is important to dry out and crush eggshells as it will help them decompose faster, which will help the lavender absorb the nutrients more efficiently. 

The sharp jagged eggshell pieces can also help deter many pests such as slugs, snails and other insects from crawling near your lavender plants to keep them safe. 

You only need one to two tablespoons of eggshells per lavender plant and they only need to be fed this homemade mixture once in spring and then again in summer to get the benefits. 

Make sure to use natural fertilisers sparingly as too many nutrients in the soil will lead to overfertilisation and can burn the plant roots. 

Taking the time to make dried crushed eggshells will keep lavender plants healthy improve the soil and help keep certain pests away so your flowers will grow better throughout spring.