FAQs

What is the address?

8769 Old Dumfries Road, Catlett, Virginia 20119

What is the phone number?

540-272-7839

What is the email?

deborah@sevenoakslavenderfarm.com

What are your visiting hours?

Season 2024 Friday, May 31st through Sunday, July 14th

Open daily from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekends

You can come any day time we are open. You don’t need to make a reservation.

Entrance Fee $8.00 for adults age 16 and up and $6.00 age 4 and up. Tickets are available online and at the door.

Dogs on leashes are allowed Monday from 9 a.m. to noon.

Do you take credit cards?: 

Yes. All kinds. And Apple Pay

Can I book your farm for my event?

While we don’t host weddings at the farm, we do book small, special events in the evenings during the season. Pricing is based on attendance and length of time. (It’s affordable) Contact Deb at deborah@sevenoakslavenderfarm.com

Can I bring a picnic?

Yes, you may. Please remember your own picnic blanket. We ask you kindly to bag up all your picnic debris and take it home with you.

Can I bring my dog?

During the lavender season in June and early July, the farm allows dogs on a leash on Mondays from 9 a.m. to noon to be in the lavender field with you. After the lavender season you can bring your leashed dog during open hours.

What is your photo policy?

During our open hours, simply pay your admission fee, and you can take as many photos as you please. If you would like to book a private photography session before or after hours, when the light is especially good, there is a $75 sitting fee. If you stack more than one sitting on a day, the first sitting is $75 and additional sittings are $35. Please contact Deb at 540-272-7839 or deborah@sevenoakslavenderfarm.com to choose a date and pay ahead of time.

The lavender field is the perfect setting for unique (and purple) individual, family or special occasion portraits.

Do you have lavender plants for sale?:

No sorry, not this year.

How do you help folks with mobility issues?

There is a short walk of about 500 yards from the parking fields up a hill to the field. If you or a member of your party would struggle with that, you may stop in the farm shop and get permission to drive up to the top of the field.

How do I find the farm?

Whenever you do visit, please take a careful look at the typed out directions below....often the direction apps take you somewhere crazy or the long way.

Directions:  Double check your automated route on a map...sometimes folks are sent into a cul de sac in Gainesville by the dratted directions apps.

We're really an easy drive from the greater DC metro, Fredericksburg, or from Central VA.   If you are coming out via Rt. 29 South...stay on it until you take a left on Rt. 605 "Dumfries Road".  Then take a right on Rt. 603/Greenwich Road and go almost two miles at which point it will turn into Old Dumfries Road as you bear left on a curve and driveway will be 100 yards beyond on left.  If you are coming via Rt. 28 South then turn right at the light at Catlett onto our road and proceed two miles and driveway will be on the right.  (Address:  8769 Old Dumfries Road, Catlett, VA20119)

What is lavender?

Lavender is a genus of flowering plants with about 30 species of aromatic evergreen shrubs of the mint family, with narrow leaves and bluish-purple flowers.  It's scientific name is lavendula.  The leaves and flowers contain scented oil glands. The spikes of flowers are purple, less commonly pink or white. Native to the Mediterranean, lavender is cultivated widely.  Lavender's fragrance is comprised of 180 different constituents and is a staple of the perfume industry.  The narrow, fragrant leaves and flowers are dried for use in sachets and potpourris. Lavender is widely used in aromatherapy for its clean, fresh scent.  

What type of lavender do you grow?

Most of our field is a relatively new hybrid called Phenomenal.  It is botanically known as (L. x intermedia). The “x” stands for cross meaning hybrid plant. These are very long-stemmed and bloom mid-season, Phenomenal is very strongly scented and therefore make great sachets when the buds are dried and removed from stems.  Beginning in 2021 we will be planting a brand new hybrid lavender.  Lavandula x intermedia Lavender Sensational! is the next generation of Lavender Phenomenal with incredibly large and thick flowers and sturdy stems  It has broad SILVER foliage is thick, tough, and cupped and a dense habit with incredible branching stems.  Like Phenomenal it is extremely good heat and humidity tolerance along with cold tolerance.  Sensational has a sweet lavender floral aroma with low camphor.  

English lavender (L. angustifolia) is the most popular garden lavender and the backbone of England’s original lavender oil industry in the late 1700’s.  Our English lavenders at the farm are Hidcote and Croxton’s Wild and are the early bloomers in the season. Hidcote has a lovely dark purple, velvety bloom which keeps its color well as it dries. Hidcote and Croxton’s Wild scent is sweeter than the lavandins. We combine Croxton’s Wild with a variety of other lavenders to make culinary lavender for this reason.

There is a larger variety of lavender than the ones mentioned here. This section is limited to information on the types of lavender we have at our farm.

True French lavender has the botanical name, Lavendula dentata (or L. dentate), for its tooth-edged leaves. We don’t have any of that at our farm. What most people call French lavender (including us!) is actually a lavandin (pronounced lah-vahn-deen). A lavandin is a hybrid of English lavender (L. angustifolia) and spike lavender (L. latifolia).

What is the history of lavender?

Most lavenders are natives of the Mediterranean region, the islands of the Atlantic, Asia Minor, and India, but they are now grown all over the world. Ancient Egyptians constructed stills to make lavender essential oil to be used in mummification rituals.  Spiritually, lavender is considered a plant that will raise perceptiveness and take an individual to higher states of consciousness during meditation. (from Lavender: a Grower's Guide" by Virginia McNaughton)

Around 600 B.C. lavender was carried to France, Spain, Italy and England. Lavender is the best known of the fragrant herbs and has been loved and treasured for centuries. The Romans and North Africans used lavender to scent the water in public baths. Lavender was even found in the traveling kits of Roman legions and was used as a disinfectants. (from “Growing & Using Lavender” by Patti Barrett) Romans likely provided the root name of lavender (either lavare (to wash) or livendula (livid or bluish). Lavender is an ancient analgesic and was used in the treatment of mmild burns, abrasions, cuts, sword wounds, sores, stings, coughs, colds and chest infections.  The Queen of Sheba offered it to King Solomon as a gift.   Referred to as “spikenard” in the Christian Bible, lavender was used by Mary to anoint the feet of Jesus.  In Medieval and Renaissance Europe the washing women were known as “lavenders” because they used lavender in the washing and sometimes dried their laundry on lavender bushes.  German nun, Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179) advocated the use of lavender water, a decoction of vodka, gin or brandy mixed with lavender for migraines.  In medieval times lavender was used as a condiment. Charles VI (1368-1422) of France (who was periodically convinced her was made of glass) insisted on having cushions stuffed with lavender to sit on wherever he went.  Usage of lavender to calm fits of madness in some forms of mental disease is at least 2000 years old.

Queen Elizabeth I (1533-1603) required that lavender conserve (jelly) be on her dining table daily.  In Elizabethan times lavender was thought of as a traditional lover's flower just as the red rose is today.  A sprig sent between lovers signified "true love".  From Shakespeare's  (1564-1616) The Winter Tale we read:  Here's flowers for you; hot lavender, mints, savoury, majoram; the marigold, that goes to bed wi' the sun, and with him rises weeping...  Shakespeare called it "hot" lavender as herbs which were positive and stimulating were considered "hot".  Lavender as an herb has a long tradition of magical use and was one of the herbs used at summer solstice, being thrown on fires on Midsummer Night.  In Tuscany, Italy, lavender was used to protect children from the evil eye.  Louis XIV of France, (1638-1715) the Sun King, made a practice of carrying sprigs of lavender in his pockets.  Queen Victoria (1819-1901) of England loved the fragrance of lavender and used it as a wash and deodorant.  Yardley and Co. of London provided her products.  (from Lavender, Sweet Lavender by Judyth A. McLeod)

As early as 1508 a “remedy” was written about containing lavender. This remedy, passed down through generations and in 1710 it was given the formal name, “Eau de Cologne” in 1710 was comprised of lavender, bergamot, lemon, orange flower, cinnamon, rosemary and alcohol. Interest in Eau de Cologne waxed as people gained the time and means to spend more time on hygiene and their comportment. It became the most popular Eau de Toilette throughout the world for 170 years. (from “The Magic and Power of Lavender” by Maggie Tisserand & Monika Junemann).

From the 17th century Colonial herb gardens of America hosted lavender and it was prized then for all its varied uses.  Lavender was once a virtual medicine chest in every home.  It was used for everything:  as a nerve stimulant and restorative, for the relief of muscular aches and pains and sprains, to induced peaceful slumber and ease ache of rheumatism and nervous headaches, to promote appetite following illness and to (even) relieve flatulence!   Lavender, rosemary and Lad's Love (lemon/camphor) were often dried and mixed together to make sweet bags to scent linen and act as moth repellent.  And sprigs of all three were often included in posies for visitors. Lavender oil was extensively used as an antiseptic in WWI and WWII when surgical supplies became scarce.  Lavender farms in England were asked to contribute to the cause.  By the mid-twentieth century as many Americans no longer gardened or cultivated herb beds, the knowledge of the uses of lavender and other herbs waned.  With increase of foreign travel in the second half of the twentieth century (think lavender fields of Provence, France) the back to small farming movement and the increased interest in natural remedies of the early twenty-first century, lavender has returned to America in a big way.  Lavender farms can now be found all around the United States.  (from Lavender, Sweet Lavender by Judyth A. McLeod)

How is lavender used?

Lavender has got to be the most useful herb in all of nature! Some of the properties attributed to lavender are:

Health and Vitality

-Stress and anxiety reduction
-Sleep promoting
-Mood lifter
-Treatment for headaches, including migraine
-Treatment for motion sickness
-Soothing to sore muscles and joints
-Aid for reducing acne and psoriasis
-Treatment of nasal and chest congestion
-Soothes bug bites
-Anti-bacterial and anti-fungal

Home and Critter Care

-Mosquito, tick and moth repellant
-Calming for dogs
-Deters ants and other home invaders naturally Naturally deodorizing

Cooking and Entertaining

-Makes beautiful gifts
-Delicate scent is lovely in baked goods
-Wonderfully calming in teas and cocktails
-Adds natural cheer to décor.

How do you care for lavender plants?

When you know a few tricks, lavender plant care is not difficult.  Mid-eastern soils and climate conditions can provide a challenge to  raising lavender so it’s good to give plants lots of room and good  drainage. Lavender plants like full sun and need at least 50 percent sun  daily. Do not over-water them as they like “their feet dry.” You can  amend the soil with sand or pebbles for added drainage, but do not use  mulch of any kind and do not mulch around the plants. Lavender likes a  soil pH of 6.5 to 7.5. We also treat our plants twice a year with an all  natural anti-fungal called Root Shield Plus every six months.  Root  Shield Plus can be purchased online.  This treatment helps insulate the  root system against the dreaded lavender killer, Phytophthora.   The first year you plant the lavender, cut off the buds so the plant  will bush out more quickly. By the third year you may have 1000 blooms  per plant! Every year you must prune off about 1/3 of the entire  lavender bush either in the fall (before November) or spring (by April  1st).   Because we have a lot of plants we use a hedge-trimmer.  But you  can use scissors on your plants if they are few.  Remember to trim so  you keep a rounded shape.  And don’t cut down into the woody part.  

Your New Plants: These lavender plants will have quite an advanced root ball so once you plant them in the ground they will be ready to go. It’s advisable that you plant them at lease three feet apart, as when they mature in 3-4 years, they will need all that extra space. These plants come already treated with Root Shield Plus, so if you choose to continue with this treatment, you will do so every six months. See directions above for plant care.

How Do You Cut Lavender?

Here in Virginia, depending on the variety, lavender blooms from early June through mid-July. We provide baskets and scissors (adult and kid-safe) to you on your visit.  You will be scouting to the field to find lavender stems that are starting to open.   Generally you look for the florets on the bloom to be one-third to one-half open.  These are best to cut for drying and maintaining their scent. You can cut a nice long stem, down to where the leaves are clustered.  There will be farm staff available to show you what to do and answer your questions. We also provide paper towels, water and bags so your flowers can go home moistened.  You can enjoy your lavender bouquet in a vase with water for awhile or you can immediately hang or lay flat your lavender bunch to dry in a dark, cool place.  They will be finished drying in three days.  Lavender buds keep their scent for years and years.  When you tire of your dried bouquet you can strip the buds off the stems and make a sachet.  If your sachet loses scent, give it a good pinch to release some of the oils that remain inside the buds.