Here are some bushes that needed some serious pruning. You can see flowering was over and so this was a good time to do it, a few months ago. The old theory used to be to prune in a ball shape but now the current thinking is to prune flat across the top. Do not prune in Winter, I always do mine in late Summer .....
Take a third to a half off the top of your bush. This is my Lavender Lad, my right hand mad, Andrew. He is just a pleasure to have around, always smiling and laughing and nothing is too much effort for him at all.
You can see we use electric blades but this is not essentail. You can use manual clippers. Do not cut too far into the thick wood.
All these clipping you can use to make wreaths, pot pourri, sachets etc etc - dont throw them away! You can also dry them and throw these sticks onto your fire for a quick burst of fragrance!
Heres the finished product, ready for Spring and some beautiful fresh new flowers!
From our website, Pruning Pointers:
Lavender needs pruning at least once a year to keep in good heart. The best time to do this is after flowering, cutting the bush back by one-third.
Cut the bush flat across the top , not a mushroom or ball shape ; be sure not to cut away the lower branches too severely - just trim them to look neat .
Lavender also responds best to a pruning after the main flowering, especially if you haven’t been picking to any great extent. If you’re picking the flowers regularly and cutting the stem with some leaf at the same time you won’t have to prune as much.
Never cut into old wood. Lavender is likely to die if drastically pruned. If a bush of three or four years old has fallen open in the centre, try earthing it up, piling soil over the bare woody stems at the centre. They may produce new shoots, but replacement is usually the better option. Lavenders may need to be replaced every four years or thereabouts. If well looked after they can last for 7 to 10 years.
Komentar