Pruning lavender is not hard , but it ’s important to do it what you ’re doing before you go for debar over pruning . In this post , I will recount you when to slue back lilac-colored plants , give you dozens of pourboire , and show you exactly how to cut down lavender step - by - step .
Before we get started , I want to mention that there are a few dissimilar kinds of lilac plants .
English lavender is the most common ( and the hardiest ) , and it ’s the variety that I grow . But do n’t care , the basics of pruning are the same for all case of lavender , both in the garden or in corporation .
My lavender plant before pruning in spring
So , you’re able to surveil these steps whether you ’re cut back English lavender like mine , or if you have Spanish or Gallic lavender .
The only divergence is that English lavender can plow a harder pruning in the summer than French or Spanish lavender can .
Table of Contents
Why Should Lavender Be Cut Back?
If you ’re new to grow lavender plants , you might not live thatpruningis a very important part of lilac maintenance .
Pruning lavender on a regular basis go along them seem nice , encourages florescence , and prevent them from bewilder too woody or growing scraggly and sparse .
But before you grab your pruners , it ’s important to understand exactly how to trim lilac-colored industrial plant , because over pruning can end up defeat your plant .
Do n’t worry , cutting back lavender plants is not as chilling as it sounds , and you ’ll get the knack of it in no time !
What Happens If You Don’t Prune Lavender?
If you do not prune lavender , the plant can become overgrown , scraggly , and it might not bloom as profusely .
So , if you want to check that that this does n’t pass off to your plant , you should get into the habit of trim it regularly .
When To Prune Lavender Plants
Ideally , you should prune lavender twice a year – once in the spring just as the unused maturation starts come in , and once in the summer right after it ’s done blooming .
Summer pruning , which help to keep the plant looking nice and encourage more flowers , is optional .
But outpouring pruning is very important to get rid of the ugly wintertime damage and boost fresh lavender growth .
So , if you only have clock time to lop lavender once per year , do it in the leap .
It ’s best to hold back until you see leaves growing before cut back lavender plants in the spring . That mode , you will know exactly where to make your cuts .
This ordinarily means hold back until belated spring or early summer to prune lavender .
I know it can be hard to expect so long before pruning lavender after wintertime , peculiarly when the flora looks so despicable . But seek to resist the urge to prune too ahead of time .
Related Post : How To Harvest Lavender Fresh From The Garden
Tools For Pruning Lavender Plants
For pruning lavender in spring , you ’ll need to useprecision pruning snipsorsmall pruning shearsso that you have full control and know exactly where you ’re make water the gash .
You do n’t have to be as precise with your cuts for summer pruning , so you’re able to go ahead and usehedge snip shearsor even aelectric hedge trimmerto make nimble work of trimming lavender shrub in the summer .
It ’s also authoritative to practice uncontaminating , sharp pruning tools whenever you trim plants , so be sure toclean and point your prunersbefore set out .
Lavender Pruning Techniques
The reason you require to wait until you see new leaves on the plant before trimming lavender in spring is because that way you will know exactly where to make your cut .
If you prune lavender too early , you could be cutting off the raw growth before it starts , or worse – you might end up over pruning the works .
outpouring pruning is much more precise of a job than pruning lavender in summertime . When lop back lavender in the summertime , you may focus on shaping the plant , rather than worry about exactly where to make each cut .
One important matter to keep in mind whenever you ’re pruning lavender is to never tailor the woody halt below the leaf .
Always be indisputable to leave some fresh unripe leaves on all of the bow . stem that are pruned down too far will never arise back .
Related Post : How To Dry Lavender From Your Garden
How To Prune Lavender In Spring
Before you start cutting back lilac plant life , take a close facial expression at your industrial plant to check that there is plenty of young growth . If not , then give it a little more meter to grow .
If you see lot of impudent growth on the plant , then it ’s safe to start trim .
Here are the steps for trim lavender plant in leaping …
Step 1 : Find the fresh new foliage on the stem – To figure out where to make the cut on each outgrowth , encounter the spot where the new leaves are growing .
Many times this will be towards the bottom of the stem , so carefully move any debris or other branches out of the way until you line up it . The new folio bud are very fragile and can easily break off when mishandled .
If there ’s a bunch of scraggly new farewell at the top of the stem , find the spot where the thick impudent growth starts to get free of all the scraggly bits on top . This will give you a entire flora , and keep your lavender from father too woody .
footstep 2 : Prune lavender right above the novel growth – prune the old stem turn back to just above the top of the new growth . Be measured when you ’re cut so that you do n’t accidentally cut or burst off any of the unexampled farewell .
seek to make the slash as nigh to the novel folio buds as you may . If you leave the dead stems too long , you might see them sticking out all summertime , which does n’t look very overnice .
Just recollect to always prune lavender above the leaves . Never slue lavender back to wood below all of the growth , because lavender will not grow back from old wood .
Step 3 : Cut off any dead leg – you may cut any idle branches all the direction down to get rid of them .
However , I would powerfully exhort you to hold back before you disregard off any leg that appear dead , peculiarly if you ’re Modern to snip lavender .
Lavender can be very slow to get started in the spring . So you might retrieve that those arm that see dead in former outflow may end up uprise in the summertime .
So , to avoid over pruning lavender , I recommend leave the branches that you ’re not certain about on the plant until it ’s time for summer pruning .
If there ’s still no growth on them by then , it ’s secure to say they are dead , and you may off them . Dead ontogenesis can safely be pruned from the industrial plant at any time during the twelvemonth .
Related Post : How To Grow Lavender From Seed & When To Plant
Tips For Pruning Lavender In Summer
As I mentioned above , trimming back lavender in summertime is completely optional . summertime pruning is good for influence lavender plant life , keeping them full and compendious , and it helps to delay woody growing .
Plus , cutting back lavender plants in the summertime after they ’re done blooming will likely give you more flowers .
After the plant is done blooming in the summer , trend back 1/3 to 1/2 of the new emergence , being careful not to cut any branches down to the leafless wood .
If you ’re too neural to cut it back that far , then you could try deadheading lavender instead . To deadhead lavender , simply remove all of the dead peak spikes , cutting them down to the peak of the principal branches .
If you want to uprise more plant , be sure to keep some of your lavender cuttings from your summer pruning . acquire lavender from cuttings is fun and easy !
If you ’re interested in essay that , here ’s my tutorial forhow to grow lavender from cutting .
It ’s important to get into the use of cutting back lilac-colored plants on a regular base . If you never lop lavender , the industrial plant will originate to be woody and scraggly looking , which is not very pretty .
Pruning lavender not only gets rid of the ugly beat growth , but it also helps to trigger bushy growth , and contribute you dozens of efflorescence too .
Now that you know exactly how and when to prune lavender , your plants will survive a long and salubrious life . And you will get to bask all those yummy smelling lavender bloom year after year .
Next up , learn precisely how to grow lavender in our detailedlavender plant fear templet !
