Lavender is one of the most popular garden plants. For theCultivation of the plantIt is important that you cut the lavender in spring. If the bushes are not trimmed, they will quickly lose their beauty. Learn exactly how and when to prune lavender throughout the year to maintain its pretty appearance and extend the plant's lifespan.
When to cut lavender
The best time to prune lavender is in the spring, but most experts recommend two prunings per year - one after flowering in the summer and a second, harder pruning in the spring.
Knowing how to prune lavender in spring is important if you want these fragrant plants to stay in good shape for years to come. Lavender is an essentialFragrant plant for the gardenand has long been valued for its medicinal properties. It is also a magnet for bees, butterflies and other valuable pollinators.
However, if left to its own devices, lavender can become woody and deplete. If you neglect the plants for too long, they will have difficulty recovering and will need to be replaced with new ones.
There is more than one type of lavender (Lavandula angustifolia), with English lavender varieties such as Hidcote and Munstead being the most popular and hardy. Other European lavender varieties are less hardy and you must therefore be particularly careful when pruning. However, there are some golden rules that you can apply to all lavender plants.
Why and how to prune lavender in spring
To reduce the development of woody stems and encourage new growth, you can use more radical pruning when cutting lavender in late February or mid-March. You should do this in the spring so the plant has enough time to recover.
Take a stem and examine it - you will notice that it has a woody base below the foliage. The amount of wood depends on the age of the plant and the quality of the cut.
Using clean, sharp secateurs, cut the stem about two to three centimeters above the woody base on the leafy part of the stem. Do not cut into the wood underneath.
Try to give the lavender plant a nice round shape by cutting the outer stems slightly shorter than the inner ones. Dead, frost-damaged or diseased branches should be completely removed.
How to prune woody lavender
Once lavender is a few years old, it can develop long, “woody” stems that look unsightly. However, it is possible to rejuvenate them. Although usually avoided, cutting back lavender in old wood can be a good way to renew it. The trick is to make sure that there are still signs of life below the cut in the form of growth nodules. If you cut more than this limit, the stems are unlikely to recover, so inspect them carefully.
Remember that you are taking a risk. Before pruning a heavily woody lavender, you should take some semi-ripe cuttings so that you can take a new cutting if the plant dies.
How to prune lavender in the first year
At this early stage, pruning aims to encourage new growth and create a beautiful mound shape. If you have grown your lavender from seeds or cuttings, it is a good idea to cut back the new tops so that the plant becomes bushy. Cut back the new lavender in the summer after flowering.
Using clean, sharp scissors, cut each stem back by a third to remove the flowers and part of the green stem. The cut should not be made “hard,” that is, close to the hollow base of the stem. It is important that enough leaves remain on the stems when the plants are still young.
Try to form an even dome by leaving the stems longer in the middle and gradually shortening them towards the outer edges of the plant. After the lavender has been pruned, a second display of flowers can occur. Cut them in the same way, but well before the onset of cold autumn weather.
Prune ripe lavender in spring
Lavender plants establish quickly, so starting in the second year you will need to do a simple but thorough pruning to keep them in shape. It is best to prune plants in two phases - after flowering and in spring, between late February and mid-March.
Cut the lavenderdon't fall back too much after the end of summer. Otherwise he wouldn't be able to survive the cold weather. However, if you forget to prune in summer, it is better to wait until next spring. Especially when it comes to the less hardy French, Spanish and Italian lavender varieties.
To prune lavender in summer, take a handful of stems and cut them with clean, sharp scissors, removing up to a third of the plant's growth. Don't cut too close to the woody base of the stems.
For drying the flowersThe stems are tied into bundles and hung upside down.
Tip: How to cut lavender so it grows back
When cutting lavender to re-grow, it is important that you do not cut into the "dead", woody growth. If you harvest the lavender right after it blooms, it may get a second bloom.
