How To Transform Lavender From Your Garden Into Natural Incense

Lavender has been used in aromatics for centuries, dating back to ancient Egyptian and Greek cultures in the form of perfumes, incense, and aromatherapy. In modern times, lavender is still commonly used for sleep and relaxation, anxiety reduction, and pain relief. It is frequently incorporated into skincare products, foods, essential oils, and fragrances. Research shows that inhaling the scent of lavender can help people take advantage of many of these benefits. Luckily, making these products with lavender from your garden isn't all that difficult. There are several brilliant ways you can use lavender from your garden around your house. Plus, you can easily transform your lavender harvest into natural incense by drying out the flowers and mixing them with the right ingredients. 

Burning incense is a decades-old practice that HGTV's Nate Berkus and Jeremiah Brent use for a fresh-smelling home. Plus, it's so easy to make at home. All you need is the dry lavender flowers, the stems, a binding powder, your favorite herb combination, such as chamomile or bay leaves, water, and tools for grinding the herbs. You may also want gloves for handling the mixture and a non-stick surface for shaping the incense sticks or cones.

Before you get started with making your natural incense, you need to make sure your lavender is ready. For incense making, you need fully dried lavender flowers and some stems. To harvest lavender for drying, you will want to pay attention to signs that your lavender is ready to harvest. It's best to cut your lavender when the flowers first start to open, but only one or two per spike, because this is when it produces the strongest aromatic qualities. Using sharp pruning shears, cut the stems down to the green foliage in the morning after the dew has evaporated. 

When harvesting your lavender to make incense, you will want to make sure that the stems are long enough that you can use them as a base for your incense. However, it is essential that you avoid cutting into the woody part of the stem, as doing so can kill your lavender plant. To dry the flowers, tie them into bunches and suspend them upside down in a dark, warm, and dry environment free from contaminants like dust. The drying process generally takes anywhere between 10 and 14 days to complete.

To get started, prepare your ingredients. You will need the flowers and stems of your lavender plants and another herb like chamomile or bay leaves (if desired). You will also need a combustible binding powder like marshmallow root, makko, or guar gum powder. This will hold the incense shape while allowing it to burn easily. You will also need water – distilled water is best for consistent results.

Carefully remove the dried lavender flowers from the stems and place them in a vessel for grinding. A mortar and pestle is ideal, but you can grind them however you see fit. Then, remove the side shoots from the main stems. Set them aside and cut the stems down to the desired incense length. Grind the lavender and other herbs into a fine powder. Finally, grind the stray stems (not the strong ones) using a herb or coffee grinder. 

There's no "right" amount of herb to add to your mixture, so start by testing in small batches. The binding powder only needs to make up about 10% to 25% of the total mixture. Start by combining one part ground herbs, one part ground stems, one part binding powder, and one part water. Add the water slowly, mixing well after each addition until the mixture is pliable like playdough, but not sticky or wet. Roll out the mixture into long, thin strips. Press the cut stems into the mixture and wrap it around them fully. You can also shape the mixture into cones. Allow to dry for several weeks before burning.