While lavender is known for being a low maintenance plant this 5-minute job can ensure you enjoy gorgeous full blooms and a delightful floral scent in your garden next summer
If you want to ensure your lavender grows healthy and full next year make sure to complete this 5-minute task in August.
Lavender is one of the UK’s most popular plants to grow. Not only does it require relatively little maintenance, it fills your outdoor space with a gorgeous floral scent and is known to attract butterflies. However, you may notice it looking a little unruly during the summer, especially if you’ve been away on holidays.
Luckily, there’s a quick and easy way to get it looking picture-perfect once more. Plus, it will also ensure you have another bout of gorgeous blooms to look forward to next year.
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According to Netmums, all you need to do is give your lavender plant a trim. This will prevent it from becoming “leggy and woody” while also encouraging “an abundance of blooms” in the following year.
They advise: “No need to hack the whole plant with the scissors – simply snip off the spent flowers and a few centimetres of green leafy parts.”
When it comes to trimming, they also warn against going in too strong. Instead, you should take a much more gentle approach and avoid cutting into the hard woody part of the lavender, as this won’t grow back.
Instead, for most lavender varieties, you should focus on cutting the soft green growth. This will allow fresh blooms to appear next summer. In terms of tools to use, Netmums recommends opting for a pair of secateurs. They add that the task should only take “5 minutes”.
There are also plenty of other popular plants that are best pruned in August. For example, this month is a great time to get started on hydrangea, as it typically stops flowering in late summer.
Similarly, rambling roses and wisteria are also usually best pruned in August. This way you can encourage full, vibrant blooms for when they begin growing again.
Plus, if you are growing apple or pear trees in a restricted form, the end of summer is usually a good time to start paring them back to ensure healthy growth the following year.
However, when it comes to trimming your hedges or bushes, gardeners need to exercise extra caution as it’s important to check for any bird’s nests before going in with your trimmer.
Many young birds still haven’t flown the nest by August and so trimming hedges too early can risk destroying their homes and endangering vulnerable chicks.