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Should you cut back lavender in the spring


Pruning Lavender: A Step-By-Step Guide

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Pruning lavender is not hard, but it’s important to know what you’re doing before you start in order to avoid over pruning. In this post, I will tell you when to cut back lavender plants, give you tons of tips, and show you exactly how to trim lavender step-by-step.

Before we get started, I want to mention that there are a few different kinds of lavender plants.

English lavender is the most common (and the hardiest), and it’s the variety that I grow. But don’t worry, the basics of pruning are the same for all types of lavender, both in the garden or in pots.

So, you can follow these steps whether you’re pruning English lavender like mine, or if you have Spanish or French lavender.

The only difference is that English lavender can handle a harder pruning in the summer than French or Spanish lavender can.

 

Table of Contents

Why Should Lavender Be Cut Back?

If you’re new to growing lavender plants, you might not know that pruning is a very important part of lavender maintenance.

Pruning lavender regularly keeps them looking nice, encourages flowering, and prevents them from getting too woody or growing scraggly and sparse.

But before you grab your pruners, it’s important to understand exactly how to prune lavender plants, because over pruning can end up killing your plant.

Don’t worry, cutting back lavender plants is not as scary as it sounds, and you’ll get the hang of it in no time!

My lavender plant before pruning in spring

What Happens If You Don’t Prune Lavender?

If you do not prune lavender, the plant can become overgrown, scraggly, and it might not bloom as profusely.

So, if you want to make sure that this doesn’t happen to your plant, you should get into the habit of trimming it regularly.

When To Prune Lavender Plants

Ideally, you should prune lavender twice a year – once in the spring just as the fresh growth starts coming in, and once in the summer right after it’s done blooming.

Summer pruning, which helps to keep the plant looking nice and encourages more flowers, is optional.

But spring pruning is very important to get rid of the ugly winter damage and encourage fresh lavender growth.

So, if you only have time to prune lavender once per year, do it in the spring.

It’s best to wait until you see leaves growing before cutting back lavender plants in the spring. That way, you will know exactly where to make your cuts.

This usually means waiting until late spring or early summer to prune lavender.

I know it can be hard to wait so long before pruning lavender after winter, especially when the plant looks so ugly. But try to resist the urge to prune too early.

Related Post: How To Harvest Lavender Fresh From The Garden

Wait for new growth before cutting back lavender plants in spring

Tools For Pruning Lavender Plants

For pruning lavender in spring, you’ll want to use precision pruning snips or small pruning shears so that you have full control and know exactly where you’re making the cuts.

You don’t have to be as precise with your cuts for summer pruning, so you can go ahead and use hedge pruning shears or even a electric hedge trimmer to make quick work of trimming lavender bushes in the summer.

It’s also important to use clean, sharp pruning tools whenever you trim plants, so be sure to clean and sharpen your pruners before starting.

Lavender Pruning Techniques

The reason you want to wait until you see new leaves on the plant before trimming lavender in spring is because that way you will know exactly where to make your cuts.

If you prune lavender too early, you could be cutting off the new growth before it starts, or worse – you might end up over pruning the plant.

Spring pruning is much more precise of a job than pruning lavender in summer. When trimming back lavender in the summer, you can focus on shaping the plant, rather than worrying about exactly where to make each cut.

One important thing to keep in mind whenever you’re pruning lavender is to never cut the woody stems below the leaves.

Always be sure to leave some fresh green leaves on all of the stems. Stems that are pruned down too far will never grow back.

Related Post: How To Dry Lavender From Your Garden

How To Prune Lavender In Spring

Before you start cutting back lavender plants, take a close look at your plant to make sure there is plenty of new growth. If not, then give it a little more time to grow.

If you see lots of fresh growth on the plant, then it’s safe to start pruning.

Here are the steps for trimming lavender plants in spring…

Step 1: Find the fresh new leaves on the stem – To figure out where to make the cut on each branch, find the spot where the new leaves are growing.

Many times this will be towards the bottom of the stem, so carefully move any debris or other branches out of the way until you find it. The new leaf buds are very fragile and can easily break off when mishandled.

If there’s a bunch of scraggly new leaves at the top of the stem, find the spot where the thick fresh growth starts to get rid of all the scraggly bits on top. This will give you a fuller plant, and keep your lavender from getting too woody.

Find new leaves before cutting back lavender plants

Step 2: Prune lavender right above the new growth – Cut the old stem back to just above the top of the new growth. Be careful when you’re cutting so that you don’t accidentally cut or break off any of the new leaves.

Try to make the cut as close to the new leaf buds as you can. If you leave the dead stems too long, you might see them sticking out all summer, which doesn’t look very nice.

Just remember to always prune lavender above the leaves. Never cut lavender back to wood below all of the growth, because lavender will not grow back from old wood.

Cut back lavender just above the new leaves

Step 3: Cut off any dead branches – You can cut any dead branches all the way down to get rid of them.

However, I would strongly urge you to wait before you cut off any branches that look dead, especially if you’re new to pruning lavender.

Lavender can be very slow to get started in the spring. So you might find that those branches that look dead in early spring may end up growing in the summer.

So, to avoid over pruning lavender, I recommend leaving the branches that you’re not sure about on the plant until it’s time for summer pruning.

If there’s still no growth on them by then, it’s safe to say they are dead, and you can remove them. Dead growth can safely be pruned from the plant at any time during the year.

Related Post: How To Grow Lavender From Seed & When To Plant

New growth after pruning lavender

Tips For Pruning Lavender In Summer

As I mentioned above, trimming back lavender in summer is totally optional. Summer pruning is good for shaping lavender plants, keeping them full and compact, and it helps to delay woody growth.

Plus, cutting back lavender plants in the summer after they’re done blooming will likely give you more flowers.

After the plant is done blooming in the summer, cut back 1/3 to 1/2 of the new growth, being careful not to cut any branches down to the leafless wood.

If you’re too nervous to cut it back that far, then you can try deadheading lavender instead. To deadhead lavender, simply remove all of the dead flower spikes, cutting them down to the tops of the main branches.

If you want to grow more plants, be sure to keep some of your lavender cuttings from your summer pruning. Growing lavender from cuttings is fun and easy!

If you’re interested in trying that, here’s my tutorial for how to grow lavender from cuttings.

My lavender plant after spring pruning

It’s important to get into the habit of cutting back lavender plants on a regular basis. If you never prune lavender, the plant will grow to be woody and scraggly looking, which is not very pretty.

Pruning lavender not only gets rid of the ugly dead growth, but it also helps to trigger bushy growth, and gives you tons of flowers too.

Now that you know exactly how and when to prune lavender, your plants will live a long and healthy life. And you will get to enjoy all those yummy smelling lavender flowers year after year.

Next up, learn exactly how to grow lavender in our detailed lavender plant care guide!

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More Posts About Pruning Plants

How do you prune lavender? Share your tips for pruning lavender in the comments section below.

How to prune lavender: and when to, for the best results

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Knowing how to prune lavender will keep these gloriously scented plants in good condition for years to come, and ensure their structure remains neat and dense, too.

Learning how to grow lavender from cuttings and seed is not difficult. However, if not properly pruned, the plants will become woody and unattractive after a couple of years, requiring replacement. 

‘Annual pruning will improve flowering and prevent lavender becoming woody,' says plant expert Sarah Raven , who suggests pruning lavender immediately after flowering has finished. 'Remove shoots to within one inch (2cm) of previous year’s growth,’ she says.

As well as being an essential plant for adding fragrance to the garden, lavender has long been prized for its therapeutic and culinary properties. It’s also one of the best plants for pollinators, particularly bees and butterflies, and is one of the best fly repellent plants, too. 

(Image credit: Leigh Clapp)

Bear in mind that there is more than one kind of this aromatic herb to enjoy in your garden. English lavenders, such as Hidcote and Munstead, are the most popular, and the hardiest. 

Other European varieties – namely French and Spanish lavender – are less hardy, and so you will need to take extra care when pruning. However, if you stick to a few golden rules, you can apply them to all of your lavender plants.

How to prune lavender – an expert guide

Many gardeners are overly cautious when pruning lavender, as they worry about cutting too far into the stems, which can harm the plant. However, knowing how to prune lavender the right way will prevent this from happening.

‘Don’t be afraid to prune lavender – the plants can become leggy and woody very quickly, and effective pruning will prolong their lives,’ says gardening expert Leigh Clapp.

Follow our simple step-by-step guide, and your plants will flourish for years to come.

What time of year should you prune lavender?

There are two times of year that you should prune lavender: in fall after flowering and in spring. And though you may have heard different opinions about when to prune lavender, and how often to do it, it is best to tackle the plants in two stages: ‘Trim after flowering in fall, then prune in the spring,’ says Clapp.  

Don’t prune lavender too hard after summer ends, or the plant may struggle to survive the onset of colder weather. Instead, think of fall pruning as a way to harvest lavender for drying and scenting your home. Knowing when to harvest lavender really does depend on what you are planning to do with it; some uses require lavender to be cut as the blooms open, others as they begin to fade.

If you forget to prune your lavender during the summer, then it’s best wait until the following spring, especially for less hardy French, Spanish and Italian lavenders.

And when you do prune lavender in spring, only do so after you see new growth begin to appear.

(Image credit: Leigh Clapp)

Where do you cut lavender?

When pruning lavender, it's important to cut it in the right place to ensure future healthy growth, and this is a smidge above side branches or leaf nodes. This part of the plant tends to be green. Go any lower and you'll be cutting at the woody part of the plant, which isn't always advised, though some garden experts say you can do this – more on that below.  

'Sometimes you may want to cut into the woody growth simply to tidy up the structure of an older lavender plant,' says Homes & Gardens' Gardens Editor Rachel Crow.

How to prune lavender in its first year

Lavender only requires a light trim in its first year, but to avoid the plants from becoming leggy in future, it’s important to get them off to a good start. Make sure you know when to plant lavender for plant health, too.

Tackle pruning new lavender during the summer, after the plant has flowered.

At this early stage, pruning is about encouraging new growth, and developing a nice mounded shape. If you have grown the lavender from seed or cuttings, then it is beneficial to pinch out new growth tips to help the plant become bushy.

There is no need to follow up with a spring prune when lavender is only in its first year.

  1. Using a clean, sharp pair of secateurs cut each stem back by up to a third, to remove the flowers and some of the green stem growth.
  2. Do not cut the plant back ‘hard’ by going near the woody base of the stem – it is essential to leave plenty of green on the stems when the plants are young.
  3. Try to make an even dome shape by leaving the stems longer in the middle, and gradually going shorter as you move to the outer edges of the plant.
  4. After trimming your lavender, you may get a second flush of flowers. Prune these the same way once finished – but do it well before the cold fall weather sets in.

How to prune mature lavender plants

Lavender plants will establish quickly, so from their second year you will need to follow a simple – but thorough – pruning regime to keep them in shape.

Start by giving your lavender plant a good trim in the summer. Prune plants by about a third into the foliage to maintain their attractive domed habit when in flower. To do this, grab handfuls of the stems and, using clean, sharp secateurs, snip them off.

‘Stems at this level are about drinking straw thickness and regenerate well if there are plenty of small nodules or shoots below the cut,' says master grower Simon Charlesworth, of Downderry Lavender .  

'By the time they go dormant in the fall the lavenders should have re-clothed themselves with fresh young shoots that will harden off before the vagaries of the winter weather.' 

Try to maintain a good rounded shape to the plant, but do not cut too close to the woody base of the stems, or the plant might struggle to overwinter.

Follow up with a harder prune in the spring.

(Image credit: Leigh Clapp)

Pruning lavender in spring

Spring is the time for pruning your lavender harder to minimize the development of woody stems and encourage fresh new growth. You should do this early in the season, to give the plant plenty of time to reestablish itself.

However, it's vital that you do not cut the stems too far down into the old wood.

‘If you crop the entire plant back to old wood it can mean big trouble,’ says celebrity gardener Monty Don in his book The Complete Gardener .

‘If you cut into the old wood, which does not have any leaves, and new leaves do not grow, then it will not survive. ’

How much wood your lavender plant has depends on the plant’s age, and how well it has been pruned in the past.

  1. Take a stem and examine it – you’ll notice it has a woody base set below the leafy section. 
  2. Using a clean, sharp pair of secateurs, cut the stem around 2-3 inches above the woody base, into the leafy section of the stem. Avoid cutting into wood below.
  3. You can prune handfuls of stems at a time, and for hedges you might find it easier to use shears.
  4. Try to create a nice rounded shape to your lavender plant by pruning the outer stems a little shorter than the inner stems.
  5. Where there are dead, frost-damaged or diseased branches, these should be completely removed.

(Image credit: Leigh Clapp)

How to prune lavender that is woody

When lavender is a few years old, it can develop long, ‘woody’ stems that look unsightly. However, if you know how to prune lavender like the experts, then you should be able to rejuvenate the plants.

‘‘The normal advice is to replace plants when they become leggy, usually after three to five years. But I avoid having to do this by cutting right back into the wood,’ says Judith Hann, author of Herbs . ‘I have not lost a lavender plant yet in the 20 years they have been growing in my garden.’

Though usually avoided, cutting lavender into the old wood can be a good way to renovate them. The trick is to make sure you can still see some signs of life in the form of growth nodes below the cutting point. If you cut beyond this, the stems are unlikely to recover, so examine them closely.

Bear in mind you are taking a risk, so before you attempt to hard prune woody lavender, take some semi-ripe cuttings, so if your plant dies, you can grow a new one.

(Image credit: Raquel Lonas / Getty Images)

Should lavender be deadheaded?

There is no need to deadhead lavender; if you prune lavender properly in spring and fall, you shouldn't need to anyway. However if you love a pristine border and want to encourage a few new flowerheads, deadheading won't hurt the plant. 

(Image credit: Leigh Clapp)

How to prune Spanish and French lavender

Spanish and French lavender are particularly attractive varieties, with distinctive 'butterfly' shaped upright flowers that may be purple, pink or even white.

The plants require full sun in order to thrive, and are not quite as hardy as English lavender. However, they are no more difficult to prune and maintain.

As when pruning other lavender varieties, simply trim around a third of the plant's growth after flowering in summer. However, do not cut the stems back too far, as this will expose them to too much frost over winter.

Follow up with a harder prune in early spring, taking care not to cut into the dead wood.

How do you cut back lavender for winter?

While you only need to prune lavender in the summer and spring, Monty Don suggests a third trim in the fall, to help it ‘hold a tight pebble shape’.

Cutting back lavender before winter will create a tidy mound that will give structure to the garden over the coldest months. Lavender is an evergreen shrub, so it retains foliage year round.

Leaving faded blooms on the plant can also provide food for seed-eating birds, so it’s not always necessary to remove the flowers straight after blooming.

It’s still best to do your first prune before the end of summer, but hardier varieties can respond well to a light fall pruning before the winter. 

Make sure there is plenty of green left on the plant, to keep it looking good over the colder months.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

How do you cut lavender so it grows back?

To cut lavender so it grows back, it's important to avoid cutting into the ‘dead’, woody growth. If you harvest lavender just as it is flowering, you might get a second flush of flowers.

What happens if you don't prune lavender?

If you don't prune lavender, the plant will quickly become leggy and woody, and won't be able to hold its own weight very well.  

This means the stems will flop over when heavy with flowers, causing the plant to spread out and exposing more of the old wood in the plant.

As editor of Period Living, Britain's best-selling period homes magazine, Melanie loves the charm of older properties. I live in a rural village just outside the Cotswolds in England, so am lucky to be surrounded by beautiful homes and countryside, where I enjoy exploring. Having worked in the industry for almost two decades, Melanie is interested in all aspects of homes and gardens. Her previous roles include working on Real Homes and Homebuilding & Renovating, and she has also contributed to Gardening Etc. She has an English degree and has also studied interior design. Melanie frequently writes for Homes & Gardens about property restoration and gardening.

Learning to prune lavender

Rules for lavender pruning

1. Pruning every year

If you don't prune lavender, it becomes a nodular shrub. The purpose of pruning lavender is to keep the compactness of the bush, which blooms all summer with bluish-purple flowers collected in dense inflorescences, for as long as possible, to give it a neat appearance.

Under natural conditions, lavender bushes very quickly become tall, wide, sprawling and loose. Loose means that the top of the bush has a rather untidy appearance, and the bottom is bare and woody. Of course, we want to avoid such a spectacle, despite the fact that someday lavender will inevitably take on such a look. But the later this happens, the better. This way we can only allow the lavender to grow a minimal amount of height. And regular pruning will help us with this.

If you do not prune lavender for at least one year, then it will immediately grow, its shoots will become woody to the very tips. For the plant, this does not create any problems, on the contrary, it enjoys natural growth. Nothing bad will happen to lavender if its bushes are not cut for several years in a row. But this will create problems for us and our aesthetic perception. The stems bare from below are always striking, and the bush itself has an untidy appearance. Of course, everything can be fixed by making a more radical pruning. But, the older the plant is, the more difficult it is to restore it. Sometimes you have to part with old copies.

Old, woody lavender bushes

2. Pruning time: immediately after flowering

German perennial expert Anja Maubach advises pruning lavender immediately after flowering - this is the second half of July, it all depends on weather conditions. The pruning principles for lavender are the same as for many perennials that are pruned heavily to encourage re-blooming, such as catnip.

Lavender should be trimmed when the flowers begin to fade, that is, when the flowering period is still present, but for the most part it is no longer visible. The gardener must have an inner flair.

But the sooner you prune, the better the lavender builds up new green mass. After all, plants need maximum strength to update. And these forces are given to them by the sun, daylight, warmth, and sometimes fertilizers. Lavender does not need fertilizer. The higher the sun and the longer the day, the better the plant is gaining strength.

The advantage of summer pruning is that lavender will grow a fresh, compact and beautiful green mass in just a few weeks. In addition, lavender branches cut in summer can be considered a harvest, as they do in the famous lavender fields in Provence, in the south of France, because it is during this period that the inflorescences are filled with essential oil.

3. Pruning in spring

Since lavender blooms only in summer, it is good to prune its bushes every year in spring, immediately after frost. This is necessary to rejuvenate the bush and to ensure that the bushes are not exposed from below.

4. Pruning to lignified branches

So, as we have already said, lavender is pruned twice a year. The first pruning stimulates re-blooming in the current year, and the second is carried out in order to give the bushes a beautiful spherical shape. Curly haircut is carried out in the spring when the plant begins to wake up. In this case, radical pruning is carried out, cut to lignified branches. Many lavender lovers are afraid to prune their favorite plants a lot. If the bushes are cut a little, then they will begin to be bare from below, and only a few flowers will stick out from above. No one likes this kind of lavender. Therefore, in order for the bushes of your pet to remain fluffy and compact for many years, the tops of the shoots are shortened by one third, giving the bush a semicircular shape. In this case, the main thing is not to overdo it, because too much pruning - to the base - can destroy the plant.

In the summer, as soon as the lavender begins to bloom, cut off long flower stalks before the seeds begin to set. Plants want to reproduce, and the formation of seeds requires strength. Thanks to pruning, plants do not spend energy on the formation of seeds, but give them to re-flowering. This time, lavender flower stalks are removed along with two or three top pairs of leaves. Thus, the plant will branch well, and the bush will take on a lush appearance.

Lavender varieties like 'Hidcote Blue', 'Siesta' and 'Two Seasons' will re-bloom in as little as 4 weeks.

Lavender 'Hidcote Blue' combined with roses 'Rotilia'

5. Pruning bare bushes!

Old lavender bushes that have not been pruned for several years in a row require special attention. Older plants are more sensitive to radical shearing than younger ones. Complex, strong pruning can cause the death of the entire bush.

When pruning old bare lavender bushes proceed as follows: cut the bush strongly, leaving 5-10 cm above the ground, only on one side. The second half of the bush is left uncut. When new shoots appear and get stronger in the trimmed part of the bush, you can safely cut off the second half. During this period, the plant will have a slightly bizarre appearance, but next year no one will notice such an uneven haircut.

This cutting method is not always successful. If pruning was carried out in the heat, it may happen that the plant will die, but it's still worth a try.

Lavender is a very beautiful and grateful plant. Only a regular haircut will guarantee the compactness of lavender bushes and its abundant flowering.

Translation: Lesya Vasko
specially for the Internet portal
garden center "Your Garden"

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Lavender does not wake up in spring - what to do?

Lavender, this beautiful perennial native to the Mediterranean, which, although it is an excellent honey plant, able to fight soil erosion or serve as a raw material for medicines, is primarily grown in our gardens as an ornamental plant, for its numerous bluish-purple flowers with a unique bright aroma.

But what to do if in the spring lavender does not want to wake up and instead of lush greenery with hatching buds is a dull dried-up gray or even blackened bush with fallen leaves? Let's figure out together why this could happen and how to try to correct the situation and reanimate the plant.

Option 1. The time has not come yet

As the first one, let's choose the most optimistic option - absolutely everything is in order with your lavender, it's just that it is in no hurry to wake up, because waiting for more warmth and light.

Don't expect lavender bushes to turn green in the spring at the same moment when the first March sun begins to warm and the snow melts. Depending on the region and its climate (winter and spring temperatures, the volume and speed of snowmelt, etc.), this crop can come to life from "hibernation" in April and May.

Just wait for new growth. For stimulating purposes, you can shed “frozen” lavender bushes with a growth activator (Heteroauxin, Zircon, Amber, etc. ) at a time.

Option 2. You chose the wrong landing site

Lavender likes to grow in light sandy or sandy loamy soils with a pH level of 6.5-7.5. She does not need especially fertile soils, but the place on the site should be very sunny and dry, with a low groundwater location, it is possible on a hillock, but preferably without strong cold drafts.

If you originally planted this crop in a damp lowland without drainage, with the prospect of stagnant meltwater or high ground, and even in heavy clay or excessively acidic soil, there are very high risks that the plants will not overwinter in such unsuitable conditions for them .

Choose a place for lavender in advance and consider its preferences.

Option 3. You made a mistake with the type/variety of lavender

Lavender is a southern and heat-loving plant, and some of its varieties and hybrids (and there are several dozen of them) are more capricious in terms of adaptability to climatic conditions, while others are less demanding.

If you purchased seeds or cuttings of the lavender you liked from the picture in the nursery without looking, it is not a fact that it is zoned in your region. This is especially true for convenient and fashionable online shopping today - not all exotic plants brought, for example, from Poland, France or the Netherlands, and even from the Crimea, will adapt to the climate of the same suburbs.

Most often, garden centers sell one of three types of cultivated lavender - narrowleaf (English or true), broadleaf (French) and hybrid Dutch (intermedia). It is the first species that is most likely to overwinter normally in the middle lane in the open ground - and then with a "safety net" in the form of a winter shelter in case of sudden temperature changes or lack of heavy snow.

More heat-loving varieties and hybrids of lavender in our conditions are available for cultivation only in containers that cannot be left outside for the winter, but should be transferred to a cool room (basement, glazed frost-free balcony, etc. ) and provide rare watering.

Option 4. Lavender did not overwinter

But even if you have purchased a variety of lavender that theoretically winters well in our conditions, it is guaranteed not to be insured against freezing in our sometimes excessively damp and snowless winters, especially if the plant is very young, planted with damage to the root system, with deepening of the root collar or late transplanted / planted before winter. New rooted cuttings should be placed in open ground no later than August, otherwise they will not have time to gain strength before the cold weather and are guaranteed to freeze.

Seed-grown lavender is said to grow stronger and more weather-resistant. However, compared with propagation by cuttings, this is a much longer and more troublesome business - a plant grown from seeds blooms only in the second or third year. When sowing lavender seeds in spring, do not forget that they need preliminary cold stratification (during winter sowing, the seeds will go through it naturally).

An additional danger for this southern crop is the stagnation of melt water at the roots in the spring when snow melts. This is especially true for areas with heavy dense clay soil and / or high groundwater levels, as we have already written about. Such conditions for lavender are another reason not to survive the winter.

Therefore, in order not to face such a situation, the area for lavender should be drained, as well as competently cover it for the winter.

Covering lavender in the middle lane is worth no earlier than November. The bushes are cut, the roots are mulched with a layer of peat or humus 5-7 cm thick, then a spruce dome is formed over each bush. Very often, lavender dies not from the cold, but from the fact that the snow above its roots freezes and does not let air through to the soil, or from banal decay during prolonged snowmelt and mild winters. To avoid this, the cover should not be "monolithic" like a very thick layer of peat or litter. It is better to organize an air gap over each plant using a spunbond cap, boards, slate or other improvised materials.

Option 5. You made a mistake with the lavender pruning

In the last paragraph we mentioned autumn pruning of lavender. It is carried out at the very end of the season, leaving only 4-5 green shortened shoots and removing the rest. If you overdid it and cut the plants drastically before the harsh cold weather, they may not overwinter.

If you doubt your gardening skills and the degree of vitality of lavender bushes, it is better to carry out the first years only in the spring pruning of lavender, combining sanitary procedures with shaping. Gently remove all frozen and blackened, as well as broken branches with a sharp disinfected pruner, shorten the rest of the bush by about a third, giving it a spherical shape.

If the snow melted a long time ago and the earth definitely warmed up well, but the plants still look lifeless week after week, you can try to cut all the "dead wood" into short stumps, which is still incapable of photosynthesis and, again, wait for new ones to appear shoots.

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