Pruning lavender

[Baldy]

I've got quite a lot of lavender - mostly Hidcote and Munstead - and some are getting quite woody - what the best way of cutting them back to enourage new growth? (Though having said that they seem to be intent on self-seedng this year I've even got some growing like weeds through cracks in my driveway)

[Guest]

Lavender ideally should be trimmed regularly to keep neat. It is advised not to cut back to the woody bits. If it has gotten that bad and you have seedlings it is worth the risk of being brutal. I have only lost one plant when I have cut it hard back. You should be able to see if it is likely to respond as it is likely to be a bit sprouty

[happyhumph]

Cut them as far back as you can into live wood - I. e. above a leaf. If you cut in to dead wood they won't re-grow. As Norfolkgrey said they need regular trimming to stop them going leggy and flopping. I do mine twice a year - when the flowers have dried out (about now) & again in the spring when they've just put on a flush of new growth.

If they're really splayed open it might be worth starting again, or potting on some of your seedlings as a replacement.

[Baldy]

Think I'll really hard prune 50% as an experiment, be gentle with the others and pot on the self seeding.
(My driveway needs replacing, lots of cracks and sand showing through - but on the plus side many of the 'weeds' growing through are lavender and aliums)

Thanks for the advice.

[happyhumph]

Not bad weeds to have! I have flat leaf parsley in my drive......

[Jay-ell]

I pruned back the lavender in the wheelbarrow to the lowest growing point on each branch.

I have alpine strawberries growing in the cracks in my paving. As well as dandelion

[mothhawk]

I have 2 20 foot long "hedges" of lavender angustifolia and it used to make my arms ache to trim it all with hedge clippers so this year I treated myself to a battery hedge trimmer and did the job in a quarter of the time.

I'd left it rather a long time (usually trim it end of August, but so many bumblebees this year) and near the bottom, where the long flower stalks had flopped over in the wind and been lying for a month or two the leaves underneath had shrivelled and gone brown. I trimmed back into it anyway so it looks a bit ugly at the moment, but I can see little sprouts of new green growth again all along seemingly dead branches.

[Lardman]

I have a 20' hedge, life it too short to prune it by hand and I put the hedge trimmers across the top at around 8" every year, normally around the middle of September so things have chance to put a bit of growth back on before the bad weather sets in.

Whilst you're doing it you might as well take a few cuttings that way you can replace anything that you've cut back into old wood.