Lavender

being a novice gardener can and when do you cut back lavender

 

Hi gordon,Trim the flower stems off when flowering has finished,shears will do the job and leave it tidy.Do not cut back into hard old wood,as this may not form any new shoots :(

[ 21. September 2005, 07:25 PM: Message edited by: Paladin ]

 

To Paladin's excellent advise, I would add, prune it back to 1-2 leaves of this years growth to prevent it getting leggy and woody - but not into the old wood.

 

I know the advice is not to go into old wood, but I have (on occasion) with the same lavender plants I've had for 15+ years, and they're still doing just great. The new growth can be a bit sluggish after a hard prune - and it is a risk - but if you really do need to get the size of the plant back to something you want, it's worth a try giving it a really hard cut. And I've even used an electric hedgetrimmer on them, so fiddling around with pruning to just 1 or 2 leaves seems a bit of a nightmare to me!

 

I have a few lavendar plants (Lavandula stoechas alexandra) but think I may have made a mistake and bought ones that arent hardy enough for this area. I had hoped to make a small border feature with them but now think these wont withstand the frost. Any suggestions please?

 

why do you say that? i mean we ve had some frosts. mine are ok.....tho im not sure exactly what cultivar they are, if you bought them locally i would expect them to survive [i live near the sea in n ayrshire]

 

you could pot them up and put them in a cold frame/greenhouse i suppose, or wrap in fleece [horticultural]

 

The worst thing for Lavender is the wet - not sure of your variety but stoechas is borderline hardy, - and like all lavenders, they don't like water. As they are new plants I would protect them with something like a cloche :D to keep the worst of the weather off if you can't lift them and move them to a more protected area for the winter.

There's nothing to stop you making them a border feature if you have to lift them. Pot them up in containers - move them close to the house wall for the winter, and lift them off the ground for drainage. Then when the spring comes plant them again. When they start into growth, take cuttings to grow on for next year, then you can leave your original plants in to see how they do.

[ 05. December 2005, 07:40 PM: Message edited by: Fran ]