When and How To Prune Lavender The Right Way, According To Gardeners
Having beautiful lavender in your garden can help bring you joy, color, and relaxation to your home. This plant has amazing culinary and therapeutic properties. It’s also a great plant if you are looking to attract butterflies and bees to your garden. However, in order to have flourishing lavender, you need to properly prune it. That’s why today we will show you when and how to prune lavender.
It’s also a great plant if you are looking to attract butterflies and bees to your garden
When To Prune Lavender?
This is a highly debated topic. However, some good basics to remember is that you need to tackle pruning in two stages – trimming after it flowers and pruning during springtime. On the bright side, this plant is quite forgiving. You also need to make sure to not over prune your plant after the end of summer as it will struggle to stay alive in the colder weather. This will help encourage good air circulation, which helps to protect it from rot. If you happen to forget to prune your lavender during the warmer months, it’s best to leave it until the following year. So, if you wish to have incredible lavender and attract bees and butterflies, let’s see how to prune it.
You also need to make sure to not over prune your plant after the end of summer
How To Prune Lavender
Gardeners are often cautious when it comes to pruning lavender. This is because they believe cutting way too much or too far can have negative effects on the plant. However, knowing how to do it properly on all types of lavender can prevent this from happening. This simple guide will help your lavender flourish every year.
Gardeners are often cautious when it comes to pruning lavender
#Young Lavender
If this is your lavenders first year, pruning is essential. You need to prune young lavender during summer, right after it has flowered. This will encourage new growth and to create a nice, plump form. Since this is the plant’s first year, you won’t need to do a follow-up pruning in the spring. So, let’s see how to prune it:
- Take some sharp, clean secateurs and cut the lavender stem back up to a third of its length. This means removing the flowers and some of the stem’s green growth.
- Avoid cutting near the stem’s woody base. Your plant needs plenty of green when the lavender is still young.
- If you want a bush like shape, try to make an even dome shape. Do this by leaving the stems longer in the middle part and go shorter as you reach the edges.
- After pruning, you may have a second round of flowers, make sure to prune them the same way before the colder weather.
You need to prune young lavender during summer
#Mature Lavender
The lavender plant establishes quite quickly, so you’ll soon be having mature lavender on your hands. After the first two years you’ll need to keep a simple but thorough regime for pruning. Do this during the summer. Make sure to prune your plants a third into the foliage. If you want to keep their domed shape a habit when they flower, grab a handful of the stems and snip them off as said. Once again, maintain the dome shape, but avoid getting too close to the wooden base. When the following spring comes, give them a harder prune.
Make sure to prune your plants a third into the foliage
#Spring Pruning
So, what do we mean by a harder spring pruning? You need your plant to minimize the further development of woody stems and rather encourage new growth. Do this early on in the spring. Make sure to not cut the lavender stems too far down into the wood. According to gardeners such as Monty Don, this will only cause trouble.
- Take a stem and examine it. You will see that the there is a leafy section and a woody base.
- With a pair of sharp, clean secateurs cut it 3 inches above that woody base.
- Remove any diseased or frost-damaged branches from your plant.
You need your plant to minimize the further development of woody stems
These were when and how to prune lavender. We hope you found this article helpful. Now you can enjoy beautiful, flourishing lavender for years to come. Pruning roses, lavender and other plants helps them to become stronger and prettier.
These were when and how to prune lavender
Sources:
