Lavender Court

Long clipped rows run the width of the square in tight parallel bands, cut back hard each year to keep the mounds dense and the lines sharp. Lavender wants poor, dry, gravelly ground — richer soil produces a softer plant with far less scent, so these beds are deliberately starved. Brush a hand across the tops as you pass and the oil comes off on your fingers; the bees working the rows are too busy to mind.