Lavender Care
Lavenders are very easy going plants for maintenance and care but do need a good “haircut” once a year.
The end of August/beginning of September is the time to cut back your lavenders, whether they are in pots or planted out in the borders, they need an annual hair cut to keep their shape. Without cutting them back your plants will soon become woody, leggy and not so attractive.
The rule of thumb is to cut them back hard.
Angustifolia (English) Lavender should be cut back to a third of its height.
Stoechas (French) Lavender should be cut back to half its height.
So that’s not just taking off spent flowers but cutting back the foliage as well.
To make it easier to see what you are doing cut the flowers off first then cut the plant back to a third or half of its size. Try to ensure you remove all cutting material from the plant so it does not start to rot and cause fungal problems.
When you cut your plants back avoid cutting into the woody stems. Make sure there are growth points below your cut, as this is where the new growth will come from.
Cutting your lavenders back will give the plant time to re grow before the onset of winter. The plant is able then to produces a nice bushy mound of new leaves to help it cope with our wet, English winters. This new growth will use up the water from around the root system through the wettest months of the year,
For a more detailed & visual aid to cutting back your lavender visit our You Tube channel, geraniumtv, where you will find 2 videos showing how to cut your Lavenders back.
