However, lavender should not be pruned during the winter. By Debra Knapke. But if you don't mind losing this spring's blooms, go ahead and prune. Pruning this way shapes the plant and encourages new growth where the blooms are produced. In areas with freezing winter temperatures, you should hold off doing any hard pruning to your lavender plants until you see new growth starting, in the spring. It won't hurt them at all. Any time you prune them it encourages new growth. Pruning lavender is important in keeping a lavender plant producing the type of fragrant foliage that most gardeners seek. Another important thing to consider when deciding when to prune lavender is to know that lavender plants need three years to become mature. How to Plant a Potted Fig Tree in the Ground. That’s why it should be cut back just a bit – few centimeters, just to keep it nice, rounded, bushy, and compact. For a first-year plant, keep your pruning soft and avoid any drastic cuts. From now on, in following years, prune the plants in the same way. Lavender’s woody stems don’t produce new green growth, so as stem tissue shifts to wood, your plant is losing the ability to produce additional green shoots, which are the ones that flower. You may trim out dead growth at anytime you happen to notice it without harming the plant. Unlike many perennial plants and shrubs that can be pruned now, it is best to wait to prune lavender until after bloom in spring or in early fall before any danger of frost. But if there is green growth just above the woody stems, start with light pruning to encourage lower growth, and then prune a little heavier each year. In this video I am winter pruning my lavender bushes, removing some woody parts in hope to recover part of the plants – have a look: Pruning lavender regularly is an essential part of looking after the plant to stop it from getting woody. We aim to enrich everyone’s life through plants, and make the UK a greener and more beautiful place. Lavender is an easy and mostly pest free small shrub that is a nice addition to the landscape. Don't prune these particular trees in the winter, Winter's coming, so get busy in your garden, Master Gardeners: Know when to pick persimmons, Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. Proper pruning and harvesting of lavender ensures the plant will have a longer lifespan, and the plant will keep producing flowers for a very long time. Don’t prune lavender until after the flowers are over. Q. For this stage, choose harvesting time (mid-summer or early autumn) to prune 8 to 10 centimeters above the woody bits. On the below photo you can see my three years old lavender plants in full blossom – right time to harvest and prune. For mature plants - Don’t hold back! Heavier pruning wakes up dormant older stems to make them bloom and flower once again. If you’re wondering how to prune lavender and when to prune lavender at the correct time, have no fear. Regular pruning is essential to keeping the bush looking healthy and vigorous, however, the amount and timing of the pruning is important. Want to know how to prune lavender for best results next summer? Pruning lavender plants and bushes are essential at least once a year to make sure the plant is healthy and it lives longer. The gardener office is staffed by volunteers trained by the University of California to answer gardeners' questions using information based on scientific research. Before getting started, you … Winter is not kind to lavender plants. Here is what happens to a subshrub if it is prematurely pruned in fall or winter. If it is several years old and has never been pruned, it may not survive heavy pruning. Update on my Lavandula dentata, cut back brutally to 15cm (6") last autumn (message 2 above).It has now regrown to more than 90cm (3') across and high and is flowering - not profusely, but better than I had hoped. Gardening tools you'll need to prune lavender. MORE: Winter's coming, so get busy in your garden. Cutting a … Don’t prune your lavender after late August. If you choose to prune in the spring, don’t wait too long. When you are pruning lavender, it is best to do it regularly and spring is a great time to start. Not pruning lets a plant get large and woody and forms nooks and crooks that trap water, thereby introducing several hazards: The Shasta Master Gardeners Program can be reached by phone at 242-2219 or email mastergardener@shastacollege.edu. You should cut an inch or two into the green leafy growth to give the plant a more compact shape and encourage dense growth. If you don't have one on hand, a hand pruner will also work just fine. These plants bloom well without spring pruning, but they'll respond well to pruning out dead, damaged or diseased wood. Learning how to prune lavender correctly keeps the plant healthy and ensures its continued growth for many years to come. But Ronda is also right in saying that you can prune a little deeper to better shape them after the first bloom if necessary. In this article, I will show you when and how to prune a lavender, how often to do it, and which tools to use for the best results. These plants also live shorter and often their branches get split and broken. If your lavender bush is looking ragged, it may not have been pruned for a few years. If you check my aero garden post you can see what happens when you don’t prune the roots of mint and basil. Learn how to prune lavender, sage, thyme, geranium, wormwood, and other subshrubs to keep plants healthy, ... Don't cut plants like lavender to the ground, and don't touch them in fall or winter. The basic tool to prune lavender is garden scissors or pruning shears. The variety of lavender will determine how much you can prune off the lavender bush without damaging it. That encourages tender new growth which will be killed by winter cold, weakening the plant so it might not make it through another season. This will help simulate more blooms this spring. The best time to trim the plant and cut back dead stems is in spring, after you see its first flush of new growth. You may have convinced me not to prune my tall crepe myrtles. Pruning lavender with a hedge trimmer is also possible but be careful not to cut too much of the plant. Try to cut as close to the woody stems as possible, to stimulate new growth, but not into them, as that may kill the bush. If you forget, wait until spring, when foliage growth is just starting. If most of your lavender is gone woody, you should prune it again just up to the two sets of leaves above the woody part. If you want to keep your lavender flowers in a bundle, tie a rubber band around them before you cut them off. Just Don't prune them real late in the season because that's when you don't want to encourage new growth. What happens if you don’t prune lavender? If you prune right after bloom you may get a second bloom later in the season and the lavender should be pruned again after the second bloom. Just trim it back slightly to stop it from going woody and to encourage nice shape and lush branches. You’ll know when that is as they’ll be more grey than blue, and you won’t see any bees or other pollinators buzzing around them. In the above photo, you can see my one-year-old lavender plant (grown from cuttings) that needs just a one-centimeter cut in the early spring. Pruning now can cause dieback that may kill the plant. If the lavender flowers were not removed after bloom you can cut them off now as long as there is no chance of rain for a few days. 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