Lavender is more than a nice smelling herb.

The Greeks and Romans favored it in their bath water. Its name is derived from the Latin lavare, "to wash." It was used extensively in Europe during the 17th Century to mask household smells and stinking streets. Stories that the glovers of Grasse, who used lavender oil to scent their fashionable leather, were remarkably free from plague, encouraged other people to carry lavender. Ladies of refinement carried lavender sprigs tucked into their tussy mussy. A beautiful addition to any bouquet, it was also a very good way to daintily avoid unpleasant odors.

Lavender has long been used medicinally. The oil of the flower being the most popular. The flower is also infused as a tea to soothe headaches, calm nerves, ease flatuance, fainting, dizziness and halitosis. It is said that if you add 6 drops to an irritable child's bathwater it will help calm them. Now that's a bonus! Lavender was used during the World Wars as an antiseptic and is to this day, a dominating choice in the fragrance industry.

What is more interesting to me is that the plant is a pioneer that can help prepare barren soil for other plants.

In the cypress stands of the Moroccan High Atlas, several species of lavender and thyme are associated with the trees. These pioneer species, which form sparse clumps of vegetation, are the first to colonize the stony eroded soils of these arid and semi-arid ecosystems. Soil analyses revealed that these species generate islands of fertility, resource islands, rich in nitrogen and phosphorus, as well as in mycorrhizal fungi with which these plants also live in symbiosis. However, what role do they play in the development of young planted cypress saplings?

Lavender and cypress grown together and inoculated with mycorrhizal fungi under glass showed significantly higher growth than when they were cultivated and developed separately. Moreover, the concentration of propagules (3) appeared greater around the lavender roots than around those of cypress and, even more so, than around bare soil (244.5, 179.7 and 7.82 for 100 g of dry soil respectively). Lavender therefore favours the proliferation of mycorrhizal fungi and of their mycelium in the soil. As it reproduces, this "nurse" plant multiplies the number of resource islands generated, which eventually increases the fertility of the whole of the terrain involved. It therefore creates conditions that encourage growth of the planted cypress, stabilizing the soil as it does so by its roots.

One of the reasons that polycultures are so productive is the complementary use of physical space, discussed earlier in Polycultures, but that's not the only reason. Here's another. I'm tempted to plant lavender and thyme in my woodlot, now that I have an excuse.