This Resilient Shrub Is Replacing Lavender in Cottage Gardens – It’s Practically Effortless, Pollinators Love It, and It Doesn’t Go Woody
Discover why garden designers are favoring nepeta as a low-effort, high-impact alternative to lavender
Lavender has long been a staple of cottage gardens, sensory borders, and aromatic patio planting. While it's delightful scent and beautiful purple blooms are iconic, it's lesser acknowledged just how problematic lavender can actually be. Enter the superior alternative designers are loving right now: nepeta, or catmint.
Growing lavender in the yard always looks best in those first few years. After that, it's common for this shrub to become woody, straggly, and if not properly maintained, quite unsightly. Nepeta (like this 'Cat’s Pajamas' catmint from Fast Growing Trees), on the other hand, is much more reliable and much less demanding. A quick chop at the end of the season is guaranteed to bring it back bigger and better next year, not to mention its summer display lasts much longer than lavender.
So, if you're considering adding a lavender border to your garden this summer, let me convince you to opt for the hardy nepeta instead. Trust me, it'll look just as good (in fact, better) in years to come.
The Trouble with Lavender
There's no doubt having lavender in your cottage garden will bring a smile to you and your guests' faces. With flower spikes of a recognizable scent and buzzing bees loving it, it's become synonymous with English-style gardens.
However, keeping lavender in top form is quite a laborious task. Pruning lavender at the wrong time or accidentally cutting at the wrong spot can result in a woody shrub with a less-than-impressive, patchy returning display.
Although not impossible, it is a long and tricky process to revive woody lavender to get it back to its original robust form. If you do attempt to do this, always make sure to use clean and sharp pruning tools, like these Fiskars bypass pruning shears on Amazon.
'If your soil holds a little too much water, the roots rot. If you prune it back by accident or if you prune it back too much by accident, it refuses to grow back, leaving this giant bald spot,' warns garden design expert, Gerardo Loayza.
Not only this, but lavender displays aren't necessarily long-lasting.
'Lavender gives you one really beautiful full bloom in early summer, so it's basically done for the year once that's over,' says Gerardo.
While this does vary between lavender varieties, generally speaking lavender blooms from late spring to mid-summer. Once done, it won't willingly flower again in the same season. Though, some careful deadheading can encourage a reluctant second flush of blooms.
One of the more reliable rebloomers is Spanish lavender (like this plant from Walmart).
The other thing to note about lavender is the fact it takes quite a few years to give you sufficient shrubby growth.
'Lavender can also really tests your patience. You plant a little pod, and you're waiting two to three years for it to actually look like a proper shrub,' Gerardo says.
It's for these reasons we should start considering more reliable, low-effort lavender alternatives that give the same punch of purple with less fuss – and nepeta is one of the best, according to designers.
Gerardo is the CEO and founder of landscape design company BACQYARD. He is a passionate landscape designer who offers outdoor designs at competitive prices.
Why You'll Love Nepeta
Also known as catmint, nepeta is replacing lavender for many good reasons.
Firstly, its appearance is incredibly similar. Nepeta has dense upright spikes with small tubular blue-purple flowers and silver-green scalloped foliage. You can also get white and pink varieties.
It's super easy to grow, adapting well to a range of well-draining soils, including chalk, sand, and loam. It thrives in full sun, but also tolerates partial shade.
As for being an aromatic herb, nepeta is in the mint family and is edible. It offers a herby scent that is often described as a cross between spearmint and lavender.
Nepeta tends to bloom from late spring all the way to fall, providing a full season of flowers compared to shorter-lived lavender.
'While lavender typically provides its strongest display for a few weeks, nepeta can flower from late spring into fall when lightly sheared after blooming,' describes landscape designer Harley Grandone.
Not only this, but you can extend nepeta's display by deadheading regularly. Its fast-growing nature brings a second and even a third flush of blooms. The best part is, pruning catmint is a lot simpler than lavender.
'It pushes out this massive cloud of purple in early summer, and then, once you cut that in about half, within a couple of weeks it pushes out a second wind that can last straight through fall,' says Gerardo.
You can simply take pruning shears (like the trusty Felco F2 pruning shears from Lowe's) and cut nepeta back by about a third. It's less likely to become woody as a herbaceous perennial, making pruning a lot less complicated.
'Nepeta is tough, it doesn't need to be babied. You can literally just plant it, water it, ignore it,' Gerardo says.
'One reason I frequently recommend nepeta is its toughness. I've seen it flourish in commercial parking lot landscapes where plants must contend with reflected heat, drought, poor soils, winter salt exposure, and minimal maintenance,' Harley adds.
'If a plant can perform well under those challenging conditions, it's likely to thrive in a home garden where growing conditions are usually much more forgiving,' she says.
The other perk of nepeta is just how quickly it grows.
'It fills in planting beds quickly, provides beautiful airy blue color throughout the season, and attracts pollinators,' Harley says. 'Unlike some perennials that spread aggressively, nepeta tends to maintain a tidy, mounded habit that works well in a variety of garden styles,' she describes.
Planting a nepeta starter plant (like this from Amazon) will reward you with a soft mound in one growing season, compared to lavender which can take several years to grow significantly.
And if the reason you're considering adding lavender to your yard is because its a popular plant for pollinators, you'll be pleased to know nepeta is also beneficial insect-magnet.
In particular, you'll find honeybees, bumblebees, and butterflies fluttering around nepeta all summer. In fact, its tubular flowers are also known to attract hummingbirds.
The one downside to note is that nepeta tends to die back in winter, while lavender has a woody evergreen frame. Nevertheless, it reliably bounces back each spring.
'For me, lavender and nepeta are complementary plants. The better choice depending on a gardener's goals, site conditions, and maintenance preferences,' Harley adds.
Nepeta is best grown across USDA zones 3-8 and there are hundreds of varieties to choose from for your garden.
Harley Grandone is a landscape designer, writer, and author with more than 20 years of experience creating outdoor spaces that connect people with nature. Her expertise includes landscape design, horticulture, gardening, outdoor living, sustainable landscaping, curb appeal, and homeowner-focused outdoor improvements.
Nepeta Varieties to Try
There are hundreds of nepeta varieties out there, but I've narrowed it down to the best ones to consider for high impact and low-maintenance.
If you want to grow catmint in pots, look no further than nepeta 'Junior Walker' (available at Fast Growing Trees). It's a compact version of the popular 'Walker's Low' nepeta, typically reaching 18" in height.
It's a charming addition to container gardens, would make an aromatic table centerpiece, or you can use it for a pop of dense purple-blue blooms at the front of a border or edging a path.
'Walker's Low' nepeta (which you can purchase from Nature Hills) has a similar growing habit, naturally mounding but reaching an ultimate height of 2ft.
Both of these nepetas are drought-tolerant, deer-resistant, and hardier than other types, with both thriving across USDA zones 3-8.
For something larger, perhaps to take place of a sweeping lavender bank, meadow, or border, consider the 'Six Hills Giant' nepeta (USDA zones 4-8). This shrub reaches up to 3ft, with a classic mounding habit of lavender purple flower spikes that last all the way through summer.
When its gray-green foliage is crushed, it releases citrusy mint scent.
'Cat's Pajamas' nepeta (which you can purchase as a starter plant from Walmart) is a newer cultivar, which was bred to improve flaws of others. For this reason, its main selling point is the fact it flowers heavily, stays compact, and rarely looks untidy.
Specifically, 'Cat's Pajamas' nepeta (which is also available on Amazon) flowers much further down the stems, resulting in a denser appearance.
If you're up for a challenge, you can also grow nepeta from seed, using these catmint seeds from Amazon. It's best to sow the seeds indoors between February-April, or directly sow seeds outdoors later in spring after the risk of frost has passed.
This fast-growing flower should then provide its first display by summer.
What to Shop
These pruning shears are ideal for tending to nepeta and lavender. It has a steel blade with a 5/8" cutting capacity.
This set of two terracotta planters is handcrafted. They're weather-resistant and can be used both indoors and outdoors.
These long-sleeved gardening gloves have a gorgeous floral pattern. They protect hands and arms when tending to the garden.
FAQs
Is Catmint Edible?
Yes, as part of the mint family, catmint is edible and entirely safe to consume. Both its flowers and foliage can be used as a herb, providing a mild citrusy-mint flavor. It's most often used in salads or to flavor tea.
Whichever type of nepeta you decide to add to your yard, I promise it won't disappoint. No more guesswork when pruning or accepting a patchy looking shrub just a few years after planting – nepeta is a much more reliable alternative to lavender.
And if you want to add more plants to your garden that provide a long season of color, check out our list of the longest-flowering perennials to grow.
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