An annual pruning is an important step for long-lasting lavender (Lavandula spp.and hybrids) plants. If you prune lavender right before it goes into bloom, it will significantly delay the arrival of flowers. A. Unpruned lavenders tend to become woody and have decreased blooms. We aim to enrich everyone’s life through plants, and make the UK a greener and more beautiful place. Remove any dead branches all the way down to the hedge bottom. My lavender bushes are looking rather ragged. Pruning can fall during any season which may require continuous pruning lavender. Lavender plants left to their own devices will become woody and flowering will diminish. Snow will insulate lavender plants only if no ice has accumulated before the snow fall. How to prune English lavender. French lavenders are short-lived and usually only last for five years. The reason for doing this is because lavender is one of those plants that does not respond to pruning of old wood, and hard pruning back to old wood of a more mature specimen (over 3 years) may well kill the bush. When to Prune Lavenders. MILLIE: As always, ‘listen’ to the plant. March through May, early spring is the best time to prune. Pruning every year is important to maintain appearance, promote blooms, and extend the life of the lavender. Don’t try to do the whole plant at once. If you have tall stems where the buds have formed and flowered off you should prune these down below the first set of leaves before the bud stem starts. The best time to prune lavender is after flowering, but this plant is forgiving. This is very important when re-generating a thought to be dead lavender plant. By year 3, your plant should be quite large and blooming with abandon. The first and less crucial “pruning” session can simply be harvesting a good amount of the first bloom of flowers in spring. Allowing your plants to flower the first year of planting greatly reduces the size of your lavender plant for over wintering. There will probably be some winter die back, but if you wait until the new growth starts, you will be able to see which stems are dead and can be pruned out. Lavender is not the easiest plant to grow in most areas, but your best bet at success is to get your plants well established early. We have planted in middle of May, June, July, August, and September. Don’t shear straight across. Prune back about 1/3 of the new growth each time, shaping the lavender bush into a nice mound shape. Plant your lavender in well-drained, rocky soil, on a slope (if possible) to ensure drainage. We find the best time to prune lavender in the Pacific Northwest is fall, well before the first frosts come. Pinch off new growth and cut flower buds in the first year. Typically pruning should take place during the harvesting of lavender bundles. After that, do not fertilize regularly. For a first-year plant, keep your pruning soft and avoid any drastic cuts. Join now. If you want to keep your plant healthy then you should prune it twice a year, every year. First year pruning is a little different from other years. ... Use your pruning shears to cut at least 2 inches (5.1 cm) above the woody part of the stalk to give the plant enough to work with for a new bloom. Go Back To Lavender Care Search. If you have a mild, but wet winter, check your lavender plants to make sure the tops are not holding excess water, which can cause the crowns to rot. However you should also perform a light pruning of your lavender plants in the late summer/early fall to prepare you lavender for the coming winter. Winter is not kind to lavender plants. The danger is that if you cut too much, the new baby plant may not recover. The first growing season of a newly planted lavender plant it's recommended to remove ALL bud shoots as soon as the little green buds start to form. Pruning. http://learn-how-to-garden.comThe autumn is a perfect time for pruning your Lavender to keep it healthly and productive. Plan to prune your lavender plant once or twice per year. Pruning in late-summer or early-fall encourages good air circulation, which guards again… Pruning this early in spring with a dose of nitrogen will encourage vegetation to grow. This ‘true lavender’ is the most versatile of them all, able to live for up to 25 years or more if maintained properly. Learn more on pruning Lavender and how to prune Lavender like a pro. The important thing to remember about first year plants is not to prune down into the woody part of the stems. SERIES 29 | Episode 09 When should I prune lavender? This will make sure it stays compact and strong. Just grab what you can hold. Start pruning your lavender as soon as you have it, very young. If you wait longer, you risk cutting off the flower buds that are forming. This is important because the parts of the plant that turn to wood will not produce new lavender stalks. A first-year lavender bush will typically produce only enough flowers to form 1 or 2 bunches, but older plants can give you up to 10 bunches. The one thing to look out for here is wet soil. Trim them under the leaf node, remove the lower leaves and plunge them into a 50% compost-and-horticultural-sand mix. Without it they grow a large, lanky, woody base that can split open — it looks bad and shortens the plant’s lifespan. (If your lavender has a lot of woody growth, then read my guide on how to deal with it). Smaller fall plantings experienced more soil wash around the plants base which resulted in uplifting of the root system. In your own garden, as you are preparing your other plantings for the winter, add "prune the lavender" to your fall gardening checklist. Start your plants off right. If you get a second flush of blooms in the fall, you can go ahead and cut them back. 01:42. Here's how to prune lavender so it looks (and smells) great year after year. While the plant is in bloom, usually in mid-summer, gather up the flower stalks and once again prune the plant back to 2 - 3 inches above where the soft, green growth begins on the lower part of the plant. One year old lavender plant First Year Lavender Pruning. Take lavender cuttings from all your varieties every June and July. If possible, pruning twice a year … Second year pruning should begin after its first flowering. All lavenders bloom on the stems that grew in the current year. Cut off about 2/3 of the plant’s height or to just above the bottom two sets of leaves on each stem. You should see the new growth by the time the tulips are blooming. It can seem severe, but pruning off all that top growth strengthens the roots and gives you a bushier, more compact plant. This also reduces the second and third year harvested yields and stunts overall plant growth. In areas with freezing winter temperatures, you should hold off doing any hard pruning to your lavender plants until you see new growth starting, in the spring. Lavender plants need 3 years to hit maturity. Since you did such a good job of creating a mounded shape in years 1 and 2, the plant is so full by year 3 that using your pruners is not the most efficient way to prune any longer. New plants need to be pruned in spring when new green growth has appeared. Pruning lavender gently each and every year, as described above, will keep it compact and stop it getting leggy, so you will never need to be fierce. The important thing to remember about first year plants is not to prune down into the woody part of the stems. You can see the unpruned lavender behind the recently pruned lavender. Should I prune now so they will look good next year? The flowers will continue to open after you harvest them and you will be able to enjoy both their beauty and their fragrance in bouquets or however you plant to make use of them. Make sure it is growing in a well-draining site to begin with. Introducing "One Thing": A New Video Series, Lavender is not the easiest plant to grow. Removing any signs of the flower bud process will keep the plant in a vegetative cycle which encourages a larger, hardy strong lavender plant. Excessive weight of snow will create a situation lavender farmers call '. Your plant should be quite a bit larger this year, with more blooms. Pruning your Lavender will prevent your shrub from turning to wood. SERIES 29 | Episode 09 When should I prune lavender? Prune lavender lightly to maintain the rounded shape. Pruning lavender. This also reduces the second and third year harvested yields and stunts overall plant growth. You can slot your lavender pruning when it works for you, as long as you complete it by early spring. This method reduces loosing valuable buds and eliminates the need to return for another day of pruning your lavender plants. We use gas-powered hedge trimmers to prune the 30,000+ plants in our fields. In the first year, pinch off new growth to encourage a more bushy appearance. English Lavender should be pruned right after it its first flowering and again in late August, right after the last flush has faded away. To be honest, once a lavender plant is too leggy and woody, we think the best thing to do is to dig them out and replace with new young plants. Prune for healthier lavender plants. Prune right after the plant flowers and at the beginning of fall. Don't be afraid to cut the leaves down to 2 inches above the woody base. Choose young two- to three-inch shoots that have just started to harden up. Younger plants grown in pots would have a better start if they were not allowed to flower the first year. It's best to plan a pruning routine to reduce maintenance and to harvest the best dried lavender bundles from your plants in a timely manner. Pruning: Prune right after the first flowering and again in late August after the last flush has faded. Peaceful Acres has played around with multiple seasons of planting. You can prune at harvesting time and prune to shape in early spring. Pruning twice a year is better. The Royal Horticultural Society is the UK’s leading gardening charity. Spring pruning prevents flowering but encourages branching, allowing the new lavender to develop strong roots and a full framework of branches. The soil needs to be well draining, between pH 6.5-8, low to medium fertility, with a porous structure, which can be achieved by amending soil with sand or gravel and lime if your garden soil is particularly acidic. Remove each additional lavender stem as ready. Good pruning is key to keep growing lavender looking tidy and producing robust blossoms. A small sythe or curved harvesting knife is a much better tool for this. Additionally, a … Grab the flower stalks by the handful and slice them off at the base. Several years of trial and error research with growing experience the farm has developed a guide to growing lavender to help determine the best growing methods. The main pruning should be done at the start of spring to really dictate the lavenders shape and appearance. Pruning in late-summer or early-fall encourages good air circulation, which guards against rot. Learn tips for creating your most beautiful (and bountiful) garden ever. You should wind up with a rounded mound. Look for where the woody section turns to soft green growth and then prune about 2 - 3 inches above that. Allowing your plants to flower the first year of planting greatly reduces the size of your lavender plant for over wintering. Marie Iannotti is an author, photographer, and speaker with 27 years of experience as a Cornell Cooperative Extension Horticulture Educator and Master Gardener, 12 Essential Spring Cleaning Tasks for the Garden, Hardy Chrysanthemum (Garden Mum) Plant Profile, Growing Geraniums in Containers—Indoors and Out. Pruning once a year is great. Remember, lavender has a bushy growth habit, so trim regularly to keep the spaces between plants open. Lavender will go 'woody' if not pruned regularly, 2/3rds each year from year 1. Follow the contours of the plant. We have established three methods for pruning lavender plants to achieve the prefect hedge. Use hedge trimmers or pruning shears, if possible ) to ensure drainage starting to open deal with )... Encourages branching, allowing the new growth and then prune about 2 - 3 inches that. Is forgiving regularly to keep things nice and tidy arrival of flowers woody base so trim to! 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