Lavender is a popular and easy-to-care-for plant that is a favourite in gardens across the UK – but it’s important to know the right time to prune it to ensure it flowers beautifully
Lavender, known for its beauty and soothing fragrance, is a cinch to maintain, yet timing the trim is key. Gardening aficionados should mark their calendars for late summer or early autumn to prune lavender, right after it ceases to bloom – but May also offers a window before the flowering rush.
The Mediterranean Gardener himself, Michael Griffiths, advises: “If you missed pruning your lavender in late summer or it is looking untidy or has frost damage, now in mid to late spring when the new growth appears is the perfect time to prune.”
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Neglecting annual pruning can lead to leggy, sparse, and wooden plants with less vibrant blooms – so it’s a nifty trick to keep it robust and blooming.
To prevent your lavender from turning into a twiggy mess, Michael instructs: “No one wants lavender that becomes leggy or twiggy because you didn’t prune it in the right way at the right time.”
Trimming lavender properly is a breeze; wield a sharp, clean cutter and take care not to cut back more than two-thirds of the plant, which could hinder its recovery.
With expert guidance from Michael: “You can prune lavender as hard as you like, as long as you are not cutting into old wood and leave some new growth beneath the cutting point.” Just remember, when pruning, steer clear of cutting too deep into old wood, which refers to the mature, thick, woody stems.
Old wood tends to bloom less but provides structure to the plant, and cutting into it can cause the plant stress and greatly weaken it. It can lead to your lavender plant not producing flowers again or can even kill the plant.
According to Michael, you will be able to “really easily” tell what part of your lavender plant is old wood as it will be “this brown stuff down here with this almost white foliage” while the new growth which you can cut will be “bright green.”
Michael said: “I don’t want to prune down here [on the old wood] at all, I don’t want to touch any of this stuff, I want to come up here and I want to be just above the old wood so I’m gonna take that to just there.
“If you do cut down into old wood, that area may not regrow and you could lose the plant so if in doubt, stay above that new growth.”
Cut the stem around two to three inches above the old wood and into the leafy section of the new growth, and create a rounded shape for the lavender plant by cutting the outer stems a little shorter than the inner stems.
Remove any dead or damaged branches, and your beautiful lavender plant will then be ready to flower spectacularly in the summertime.
Michael said: “Pruning in spring will delay flowering slightly, but in the end, you’re gonna get a better-shaped bush that will last longer.”