Cutting back Lavender

When do you cut back your Lavender? Mine are starting to fade so I am guessing now is a good time to take them back a bit?

 

Mine started to fade earlier than normal this year, I cut them back a couple of weeks ago. If it's not too untidy and still attracting bees and insects, you could leave it a while, but not later than mid September, to allow any new growth to harden up before winter.

 

Just been out to cut some of my long stemmed angustifolias to dry indoors. The rest will get a haircut within the next month, once the flowers are completely finished. Just don't cut into the woody stems, they don't regrow from those. Trim the flowering stalks back to keep everything trim and tidy.

 

Thank you @Tinkerton and @Plantminded for your replies

 

I have found this information very useful, thank you both.

Bees are still loving my lavender plants, which are showing signs of fading but still smell wonderful. I will wait to prune them, following the instructions.

Can I mention Dwarf Azaleas, relating to pruning? I have several beautiful varieties in my garden, planted many years ago and only today have I learnt they require annual pruning! I am nervous. I deadhead them as they finish flowering and I have stunning displays each year starting very early in the Spring. Do I leave well alone please?

 

I don't know anyone that prunes the small Japanese azaleas @Buzzy Bee, if that's the type you mean? They're slow growing anyway, and the method you're using - ie just deadheading, is the most you would do with them. The deciduous ones are different though.

Re lavender - this is when it matters where you are. Up here, they put on a lot of soft growth through summer due to rain, and if they aren't cut back early enough, you end up with even more woody stems which don't appreciate being cut back, and the plant just gets bigger and woodier as time goes on. It can mean cutting off a lot of flowering stems, but that helps when the cold weather comes in, and you get a neater, bushier plant doing that. You can cut back in spring, but by then it's usually too late, as the growth is woody and doesn't reliably recover.
The alternative is - you accept that they will get woody and ugly, and will need replacing more often, because cutting back here after they've finished flowering is too late in the year.

 

I appreciate your advice, fairygirl thank you.

I will carry on as I am doing with the Japanese azaleas, which has never let me down.

I will prune the lavender sooner rather than later to get the best display next year. Thank you for responding and explaining the importance.

 

No probs @Buzzy Bee .
I thought of this thread when I was out my walk yesterday morning, as there are lots of gardens with lavender in the front borders. While the flowering stems are all growing away well, you can see the main 'crown' of the plants have a lot of new, soft growth due to that moisture.
If left, that crown/base gets bigger, but if the owners were to wait until the flowers were finished to cut back to that, it would be much later in autumn, and there's a chance that doing it then means the plant will sulk because the new growth is exposed to colder conditions, and can die back - often completely.
If left after flowering without being trimmed back, the plant will be ok, but you then have to either leave it altogether, and just let it get larger and woodier every year, or you have to trim in spring, and that can also be tricky here as spring doesn't happen as early as it does in milder/drier areas, so it can be a bit late to do it properly. The end result is often the same, with a plant either dying off if cut back too far, or growth having to be left a bit longer than is ideal, resulting in more of those longer, woody stems with the new season's growth round the top.
It's why lavender often looks terrible here!

 

And it's why I don't grow it and just enjoy my neighbour's instead. I find Rosemary a much easier plant.

 

I'm going go remove my lavender when I can get at it without trampling on other plants! I like Rosemary too @ViewAhead but it tends to start shedding leaves in my garden after a couple of years and look a bit ragged. I've just got one now, in a pot, and it's had a verbal warning .

 

We planted some lavender last year and it's been rather disappointing. Might remove it soon

 

I have trimmed off the flowers now the bees are no longer visiting the lavender and filled some little bags with the dried flower heads. Hoping one under the pillow will help me sleep

 

“My” bees are still enjoying the Lavender here. I’ve harvested some for vases and will do more over the next couple of weeks before official pruning back.

 

I have never had shedding. I totally ignore it, care-wise. Just a bit of a trim if it starts encroaching on my neighbour, and it has happily got on with looking after itself for 20+ yrs. It is in a dry, windy spot, with a massive conifer and ivy constantly threatening its territory, but it doesn't seem to mind.

Just luck, I guess.

 

It all sounds rather complicated with lavender, I will stick to the advice of cutting the stems back soon. The new growth from the crown has developed flowers so I will leave those alone for a while longer, it seems cruel otherwise.

I think you have a good point, ViewAhead.