Why Prune Lavender
Pruning lavender keeps it in a nice, neat shape, as in the image above left. How much you prune lavender may depend on your gardening style.
Standard garden advice is to prune lavender after flowering. A very light trim just to remove the flower heads. If you like your garden more relaxed, as in the image, the centre, just do a light trim, or even leave the flower heads in place until spring and then give it a light trim. This method has advantages.
Even the fading flowers will continue to attract bees.
Less work
Sometimes, depending on the weather conditions, you can get a second late flush of flowers; more information below.
Another reason you may want to delay pruning is that both goldfinches and bullfinches will eat lavender seeds.
Sometimes I am reluctant to prune lavender even in late summer as I like the faded blooms.
If you prefer a neat garden with nicely domed lavender, trim off the flower heads after flowering. In the spring, prune again, cutting into the stems (but not the woody bit) to create a nice domed shape.
Tips about growing Lavender, soil conditions, hardy ratings and images.
Benefits of pruning lavender in Spring
Sometimes I am reluctant to prune lavender even in late summer as I like the faded blooms.
Inexplicably, the bees still seem to go to the pale, almost spent flowers, and I dislike cutting anything back, which is still beneficial to bees.
But the most persuasive reason, in my mind, not to prune until the spring is the chance of a true second flush of flowers.
No two growing seasons are the same, and different growing seasons can produce different flowers. In this image, Lavender Hidcote is blooming really well, but I took this picture in late September, when, usually, the Lavender blooms have all faded.
This was 20025, we had a prolonged drought, which brought many flowering plants' blooms to an early end. We then experienced quite a lot of rain, and the lavender flowered up.
If I had trimmed it all back in late August/early September, this would have been curtailed.
How to Prune Lavender
There are two ways to prune lavender.
The picture on the left shows the light trim after flowering. Clip just to remove the flower head and stalk, leaving the plant intact.
If you would like your lavender informal, this is the prune for you.
However, people often see lavender in gardens in neat domes, or have lavender as a hedge, and if you want to create this style, trim it again in Spring. The purpose of this prune is to bring the shrub into shape and create the dome shape.
As lavender plants get older, they often develop a "woody " centre, and it is important not to prune into the old wood, which can damage the shrub's growth.