Lavender ââ?¬â?? when do I prune it?

Hi all, I�m pretty new to gardening and I want to get better so here I am. I�ve got in my front garden Lavender. Some in pots but mostly in the ground. The Lavender's have grown very well this year.

Some of the stems have started to look woody ââ?¬â?? so I was wondering when do I prune/cut them back? ââ?¬â?? and if I do, how best should I do it, thin them out or take it right back to roughly the size it was when I planted them.

Sorry if it�s a silly question, but I really don�t know how far to take pruning, and the last thing I would want to do is damage the plants.

Thanks


Greg

 

I am going to prune mine now...well tomorrow really. I will just take the dead flowers off and just trim up the shoots, not cutting into the old wood. I don't cut lavender hard and you have to accept that after a few years they get old and leggy and need replacing.

 

Hi. A tip I heard on GQT on radio4 (although I've not tried it yet)for leggy lavender was to cut it right back at the end of the year and then dig it up. Take out a few inches of soil from the hole and put the lavender back. It is now slightly below ground level. Now cover with soil taken out of the hole. Evidently, this encourages lots of new shoots and rejuvinates the plant.

 

I my god, i recognise that advice too. I must have been listening. My g/f thinks i'm sad listening to GQT :(

 

Interesting.

 

Greg we have actually just had this discussion in another section. Even though I joined in I'm blowed if I can remember where, so no wonder you didn't find it. My advice then (which no one disagreed with - though the burying deeper was also accepted) was to take some cuttings as insurance (you could be a bit late now) then prune hard back. You should then get some nice new stalks. I think I'd leave it now till spring.

 

its here

http://www.gardenerscorner.co.uk/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=13;t=000184#000000

 

Thanks Glen. The problem is, when you are over 21, you lose track of things. (That's a lot over 21). :D

 

John as long as you have a warm place to put them I don't think its too late to take cuttings, I did some a few weeks back and they are coming on really well loads of roots so I took some more just the other day!
Helen.xxx.

 

Thanks for the advice everyone!

I'll prune mine in the morning, and take a few cuttings too, and see how they develope.

Special thanks to Sarraceniac & GlenW, the other link was informative also.


Thanks


Greg