How do you reduce lavender size?
Right after flowering, or by the end of September at the latest, give your plants a very hard trim, as shown in our lavender trimming video. Cut all the new growth back down to 1-2cms above the older, woody part of the stem, leaving between one and three leaf buds.
Small shoots emerging from the woody base indicate that stems should regenerate. 2 CUT OUT OLD GROWTH Carefully cut out the old growth above the young shoots to open up the middle of the plant. Use sharp secateurs to cut as close as you can to the new growth without harming it.
Pruning is an important step in the maintenance of woody subshrubs like lavender. Not only does it tidy plants for a compact, uniform profile, but it also slows the growth of bare lower stems and forces plants to branch out, developing more flowers.
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.
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.
Prune for healthier lavender plants
An annual pruning is an important step for long-lasting lavender (Lavandula spp. and hybrids) plants. Without it they grow a large, lanky, woody base that can split open — it looks bad and shortens the plant's lifespan.
If plants are cut back or pruned after their summer flowering, this can encourage lavender to bloom once again during the moderate weather of early fall.
Hardy lavenders are best pruned after they have finished flowering in late August or September. Traditional advice used to be that you should never cut into the old wood.
Left to their own devices, lavender can become woody and ungainly, so to keep plants compact and attractive, it's best to trim them annually in late summer, just after flowering has finished. Remove any spent flower stalks and about 2.5cm (1in) of leaf growth.
Proper pruning and deadheading of lavender plants will increase your harvest of flower spikes for dried flowers and make your plants more beautiful and healthy. Lavender benefits greatly from being pruned in mid-spring and deadheaded in the summer.
Does lavender do better in pots or ground?
Lavender needs full sun and good drainage. It is more likely to die from excess moisture than from cold in winter. A pot is an excellent way to provide drainage, though the plant will be more vulnerable to cold temperatures than it would be in the ground.
Lavenders demand full sun, although afternoon shade may be appreciated in the hottest climates. Plants are very drought resistant once established, but will flower better if not allowed to dry out.
Third, it is important to cover your Lavender plants (zone 5 and below) with winter protection. Being that Lavender is an evergreen shrub, these plants are susceptible to winter burn and have a hard time fighting the natural winter elements.
The first trim needs to be done by early March. This is the trim that tidies up your plants for summer and encourages lots of flowers. Lavender that was planted last year must not be spared! It is often fine, even preferable to let a shrub settle in for its first year with little or no trimming.
If you have lavender plants that are hardy in your growing zone (see our Lavender 101 post for more information on this), it is likely that they will return year after year for a decade or two. But even the toughest perennials may still look quite grisly after their long winter dormancy.
The plant cannot produce new growth from the woody parts. When you're pruning woody lavender plants, it's also a good idea not to prune all of the plant at the same time. Instead, work slowly, trimming back each branch, but never cutting into the brown wood. You can trim branches back by one-third or one-half.
When sited correctly and pruned judiciously, lavenders should live for five to seven years. Although lavender is fairly drought tolerant, adequate moisture is required throughout the growing season. Most critical are the weeks after planting to ensure that soil around the rootball does not dry out.
When these shoots have finished flowering, you should consistently prune back to the bushy, leafed part of the plant. Most hobby gardeners follow a one-third-two-third rule when pruning Lavender. This stipulates you prune back the plants by a third in the summer and two thirds in the spring.
How to Care for Lavender. Water once or twice a week after planting until plants are established. Water mature plants every two to three weeks until buds form, then once or twice weekly until harvest. (Yellowing leaves are often a sign of overwatering.)
If you didn't cut back after blooms faded, you can prune into fall (but not too late in the year in hard frost areas). Try regenerating a woody plant by pruning the remaining green down almost to the wood and hope for new growth. Dry wood on lavenders will not re-sprout, according to experts.
How far back can you cut lavender bushes?
Cut off about 2/3 of the plant's height or to just above the bottom two sets of leaves on each stem. Take care not to cut into the woody part of the plant which can cause damage. Twice-a-year pruning will keep your plant healthy and compact.
Did you know that mature lavender plants are very easy to move to a new location? In spring and early summer, lavender are very tolerant of being transplanted! The key is to protect the roots as much as possible, and we will show you our method.
The basic rule of pruning lavender is not to trim into brown, dead wood. You'll usually find brown branches at the base of the plant. Remove them only when they are truly dead. Never cut them back, hoping to stimulate new growth.
