Common Sage Pruning

I have a common sage which is three years old. It flowered beautifully in its first year:

View attachment 14839

but since then hasn't bothered. When and how should I be pruning it to get it to flower again?
Thanks

 

I would say prune after flowering, usually late June? But Armandii's experience is contradicting this.

 

You can be quite severe when pruning common sage. I usually take it right down to just a few young buds as close to the ground as I can find them. According to the books you can do it either in autumn or late winter/early spring. I usually choose the latter, just because sage being evergreen it keeps winter interest if you leave it til after winter. Once the old top growth is out of the way the young buds will rapidly produce vigorous new growth come spring time.

 

In my experience, once common sage flowers, it keeps on doing so for the rest of the year. I've had it flowering in december once As the flowers go over it helps to cut the whole flower stem off though, and then they just keep going and going. The bumblebees love it.

 

I've not grown sage for years, but I seem to remember mine flowered in late spring early summer, I think I used to cut it back after flowering.
So I would say it flowers on last years growth, so cutting back in March would delay or even stop the plant flowering.

Sorry just noticed this is in Spain, so it might well be winter flowering there.

 

I was thinking I might try giving it a hard prune in March as mine does not by any means flower abundantly but now I don't know!

Actually that figures, if Armandii's flowers in August (on new wood?) the early pruning must delay it, whereas I'd expect my (unpruned) one to flower in late May on old wood.

So you pays yer money and you takes yer choice.

 

That's probably because you cut it back in March, it is probably still getting enough moisture here to flower in August.
Only guessing but Spain could well be a different proposition, much dryer by August and dormant.

 

Basque side of Spain is, I understand, just as soggy as the UK. Its the bit the holiday companies used to refer to as 'Green Spain' because apparently its lush there.

 

Wow! What a lot of information!! Thanks everyone! Yes, I am in 'Green Spain' - freezing in winter, boiling in summer! When it flowered it did it in May, and I think I cut it back afterwards, (can't remember exactly though ), but since then...nada.
And now the big question is...what happened to my photo?? Why is there a 'view attachment' link which doesn't work? I uploaded the photo into the message, and it was there before I clicked 'post'. Anyway it was a photo of the sage in flower with a bee on it. I'll try again:

 

Oh, there it is! Yay!
Now I'm totally confused about what to do about the sage though!
I think I might cut it back now, give it some potash (lots available from the fire), and see what happens...

 

The only sage.....apart from the "salvias" ......that flowered for me was salvia Tricolour. What a beautiful plant it then was for most of the summer. It flowered because it was not cut back the previous summer I think. Unless you cut back purple sage you lose it's intensity of leaf colour and it's bushyness.