Lavender, a fragrant and drought-tolerant herb, is a popular addition to many gardens. While often considered low-maintenance, it is a semi-woody shrub that requires regular pruning to maintain its health and appearance. Pruning ensures the plant’s longevity, maximizes yearly bloom production, and prevents the development of an unsightly, woody base that often leads to splitting and decline. Consistent trimming encourages new, fresh growth lower down on the stems, keeping the overall structure dense and full. Without this annual intervention, lavender will eventually become sparse, leggy, and less floriferous.
Essential Tools and Timing
Use sharp, clean bypass hand pruners for precision cuts on smaller plants or hedging shears for quickly shaping larger, established rows. Sanitizing cutting blades with rubbing alcohol or a 10% bleach solution before you start prevents the accidental transfer of plant diseases between shrubs.
The timing of the main, heavy prune depends on your climate and the specific variety of lavender. The most effective time for this substantial cutback is immediately after the main flowering period has ended, typically in late summer or early fall. This allows the plant to recover and produce new foliage before winter dormancy. Avoid significant pruning later than six weeks before the first expected hard frost, as a late cut stimulates vulnerable new growth easily damaged by cold weather.
Shaping New Lavender Plants
The initial pruning for young lavender plants (in their first year or two) focuses on establishing a strong, bushy foundation. This process, often called “tipping” or “pinching,” should be performed regularly during the first active growing season. Tipping involves lightly snipping off the soft, new growth at the end of each stem, removing the terminal bud.
Removing the terminal bud interrupts growth-suppressing hormones, encouraging the plant to redirect energy into lateral (side) branching. This focus on bushiness, rather than maximizing first-year blooms, creates a dense, rounded base. A compact base prevents the plant from becoming leggy and woody prematurely, ensuring a better shape and more flowers in subsequent years.
Annual Maintenance Pruning
Annual maintenance pruning is the routine yearly care required for mature lavender plants, usually performed after the main flush of flowers fades. This practice prevents the lavender from becoming overly woody and keeps its mounded shape intact. Begin by removing all spent flower spikes, known as deadheading, to tidy the plant’s appearance.
After deadheading, cut back the current season’s green growth by approximately one-third of its length. For example, if the green portion of the stem is nine inches long, remove about three inches. Make these cuts just above a node, which is a point where new leaves or branches emerge, leaving at least a couple of inches of green growth above the woody base. The plant will not reliably regenerate from the thick, gray, leafless “old wood,” so cutting into it must be strictly avoided during routine maintenance.
Rejuvenating Woody Plants
When a lavender plant has been neglected for several seasons, it develops thick, woody stems with sparse foliage and flowers concentrated only at the tips. Rejuvenation pruning is a specialized, high-risk technique reserved for these old, woody plants. The primary risk is that lavender often fails to produce new growth from old wood, meaning a severe cutback can potentially kill the plant.
To attempt rejuvenation, the hard cutback is best performed in early spring as new growth starts to emerge. Cut back the stems severely, leaving only a few inches of visible green growth or a set of viable nodes just above the woody base. To increase the plant’s chance of survival, stagger this severe pruning over two or three years, cutting back only a portion of the woody stems each season. This gradual approach ensures the plant retains enough foliage to support recovery.