Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Darlene Sunseri on November 28, 2009 at 8:42pm

Hi Donna, I live in the Pacific NW. I grow and propagate several different hardy lavenders annually. The best time to prune your lavender back is after the blooms have started to turn brown. In our area and for most varieties that is usually mid to late July. When you prune your lavender back be sure to shape all the way around the plant to encourage new robust side shoots. After you prune, you may be blessed with a second light blooming that can be trimmed again after it has peaked.

Enjoy your lavender!

Permalink Reply by Karen Clark z7b Pacific NW on December 1, 2009 at 10:44am

I have read that you should not cut back more than 1/3 of the plant. I can't say that I have successfully always had lavenders not get woody on me, but being less aggressive in trimming has helped. Darlene has much more experience than I. What do you think, Darlene? I live in a mild climate where our winters seldom dip to freezing.

Permalink Reply by Darlene Sunseri on December 3, 2009 at 8:18pm

Many shrubby plants can be successfully cut back as much as 1/3 but you will not want to cut your lavender back into the old wood. Leave a couple inches of green growth all around on your plant. If your plant a really ugly and gone to lots of wood, you might want to propagate some green cuttings in the spring and start over. If you have a Dutch variety they just tend to sprawl and go to wood in a few short years. You may want to replace your plant with a more compact variety. Your local library may have a book about growing lavenders to help you decide on the perfect plant for your location.

Permalink Reply by Rich Bishop on January 17, 2010 at 8:35pm

I just joined this group, Jan 17, and hope you didn't cut back your lavenders back too severely. Here in Denver I simply round the plants off, down to the where they are solid leaves, all filled in, and the flower stalks are all gone. Pruning all the flower stalks off down below the foliage to where they originate is too much work, and they help fill in the foliage. The severe pruning is done in the spring when the winter kill is evident and the new growth is emerging. During the winter I have round gray globes in the garden.

Permalink Reply by Michelle Glenzer on February 17, 2010 at 12:46am

hello - I just joined the group and have several Hidcote Lavender plants. The 2009 wet summer in Kansas city resulted in my plants getting too much growth which in turn resulted in a gangly plant at the end of the season. Any suggestions for reshaping my plants? I pruned them at the end of the season but they didn't shape up too well. I was wondering if they could be pruned again in the spring or if it would be better just to replace the plants. They are mature plants and around 4-5 yrs old. At this point I can't even be sure they made it through our winter despite taking precautions, our winter like everyone else's has been more severe and colder than usual.

Permalink Reply by Rich Bishop on February 17, 2010 at 12:08pm

It's worth it to cut them back severely in the spring, but as the stems get woody with age they can rot or be injured, thereby causing dead areas up the stem or completely dead areas. Four to five years isn't bad for a lavender, especially in KC. 'Hidcote's a tough one but if it doesn't look good in the spring, with large dead areas, I'd just replace them. Good luck.

Michelle Glenzer said:

hello - I just joined the group and have several Hidcote Lavender plants. The 2009 wet summer in Kansas city resulted in my plants getting too much growth which in turn resulted in a gangly plant at the end of the season. Any suggestions for reshaping my plants? I pruned them at the end of the season but they didn't shape up too well. I was wondering if they could be pruned again in the spring or if it would be better just to replace the plants. They are mature plants and around 4-5 yrs old. At this point I can't even be sure they made it through our winter despite taking precautions, our winter like everyone else's has been more severe and colder than usual.

Permalink Reply by Michelle Glenzer on February 17, 2010 at 1:49pm

Thanks for the information, i'll give that a try and see how it goes this spring if it ever gets here! This has been the longest winter I can remember!Thanks again!