General: Cutting back lavender

Discussion in 'Herbs for the Kitchen' started by kristenann, Apr 21, 2009.

  1. kristenann

    kristenann Member

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    Location:
    Victoria, BC, Canada
    I'm in the process of cutting back a very mature and woody lavender. It was not pruned last year, and possibly not the year before that. It is about one metre and a half wide... I need it to be more compact. How much can I take off the sides without killing it? Will it regain green growth on those parts in the summer?
    Thanks!- K, Victoria, BC
    ..I hope this is in the right forum. I did some research online about this.. but it was not really adressed in the case of mature plants.
     
  2. bjo

    bjo Active Member 10 Years

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    algarve portugal
    Hi,

    Greetings from the south of Portugal (blue sky 21'C).

    I think that you can be pretty brutal with lavenders.

    For example i have a woody Lavandula dentata perhaps 1m (~3 feet) across and high. Last Autumn I cut it back to about 15cm (6 inches). It has recovered very well with masses of new grey green leaves and is now back over a 30cm (1foot) across. However not 100% of the branches survived the cutback and this would be my general experience with all lavenders - some branches will die off. With such a brutal cutback, I am not expecting too many flowers this year.

    Many lavenders are native here and they occur in areas prone to fire where they may be burnt down to ground level - they obviously thrive in this regime.


    Boa sorte (good luck)

    BJO
     
  3. Vera eastern wa

    Vera eastern wa Active Member

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    Eastern Washington, USA
    Personally when I give any of my Lavender angustifolia a hard pruning I wait until I start seeing new growth and cut as low as I can just above that new growth. I do this every other year.

    Vera
     
  4. shelton

    shelton Member

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    Best to not cut back to woody growth, only cut back the green by half. Maybe take cuttings and start a few new plants and remember to prune them twice a season if you are desiring that nice mounded cushion effect. See http://everything-lavender.com for tips on taking care of lavender.
     
  5. bjo

    bjo Active Member 10 Years

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    Update on my Lavandula dentata, cut back brutally to 15cm (6") last autumn (message 2 above). It has now regrown to more than 90cm (3') across and high and is flowering - not profusely, but better than I had hoped. So it is certainly an example that a lavender can recover well from very hard pruning. Simon Charlesworth is considered an expert on lavender cultivation in Europe ( his Downderry nursery is on the web). He recommends cutting no lower than a hand's breadth above the lowest green branches. This will stimulate new branches lower down on the woody stem. Then if you want it cut back even further, you can do a second cut again a hand's breadth above the lowest of the new green branches. This method should eliminate any risk of total die-off.

    Boa sorte

    BJO
     
  6. Paula B

    Paula B Active Member

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    my first year lavender plants are just finishing blooming. My Felco#2 pruners are being shipped as I write this email. When the pruners arrive, I'm taking hold of the lavender flower stems, holding them like ponytail and--'snip' its gone. I'm trimming back to about 1 1/2 inches above the woody parts. I'm going to be brave. Give it a try,
     
  7. 1950Greg

    1950Greg Active Member

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    Location:
    Langley, B.C. Stones throw from old HBC farm.
    This is why I love this site you can get first hand knowledge like this from all over the globe.
     
  8. 1950Greg

    1950Greg Active Member

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    Langley, B.C. Stones throw from old HBC farm.
    My fist wife us to cut my hair this way in the late sixties when I had more hair to deal with. I am not sure if it help my hair or not but it sounds like an efficient way to prune lavender.
     
  9. Paula B

    Paula B Active Member

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