Fragrant lavender plants are beloved by gardeners. Keep your plants healthy and happy with our guide on how to prune lavender.
When (and How) to Prune Lavender for Pretty, Fragrant Blooms
Read on to learn when and how to prune lavender with help from Amy and Osmar Castillero from Blades Landscaping Services.
Learn when to prune hydrangeas for big, showy blooms.
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When to Prune Lavender
Since lavender plants dislike extreme heat and cold, you can grow them perennially in United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Plant Hardiness Zones 5 to 8. North or south of those zones, grow lavender as an annual, or in containers that you bring indoors during very wet or freezing weather.
Psst—check out the top 10 cold hardy perennials for northern gardeners.
Read on to learn when you should prune your lavender throughout the year.
Spring
In early spring, Amy suggests waiting until you see new growth before you prune. Amy says lavender can be lightly trimmed or pruned anytime during the spring and early summer.
Summer
Prune again after the plants have stopped flowering in late summer. “Ideally, you should prune your lavender twice in a growing season — once in early spring and once in late summer, after it’s done blooming,” Amy says.
Fall
Complete your second lavender pruning by early fall, especially if you live in a cold climate where frost can damage fresh growth.
Winter
In winter, you should generally leave lavender alone. If you live in an area where there’s a risk of extreme cold, cover your lavender plants with evergreen boughs to protect them from frigid winds.
How to Prune Lavender
Pruning lavender isn’t complicated, but there are a few things you should know:
- As with all pruning tasks, start with a pair of sharp, clean pruning shears. Amy recommends always sterilizing the blades before you prune. Wipe them down with rubbing alcohol or bleach, then rinse off and dry.
- Deadhead, or remove dead flowers from the plant.
- Identify new, green growth on the plant. This is the part you want to trim.
- For young plants, snip new growth to encourage branching as the plant regrows. This helps establish the rounded, bushy shape lavender is known for. “Make sure to cut back new growth only,” Osmar says.
- More established plantings can be more vigorously pruned, especially in late summer or early fall after flowering. A good rule of thumb is to cut off the top third of new growth at the end of the season. This will make your plant fuller and more shapely in the spring. “If you don’t trim them back, they get out of control,” Osmar says, “So don’t be afraid of cutting them back.”
- Avoid cutting back the woody area of the branches below the leaves and always leave some green on the stems.
- Try to create an open center on the plant as you prune. This allows the sun to reach all plant parts equally and allows air to circulate, which helps the plant stay healthy and fight off disease and insect pests.
Lavender Plant Benefits
If you’ve ever grown lavender in your garden, you know there are many reasons to love it. Lavender’s pretty, fragrant blooms attract pollinators and give off a sweet floral perfume. It’s a hardy, perennial bush in most zones, and easy to care for. It even looks nice when not blooming, and is one of my favorite plants to grow in perennial gardens.
Best Uses for Lavender
After pruning, put the fragrant, colorful lavender trimmings to use around your home.
- Try adding some lavender to a bouquet of fresh-cut flowers.
- Use English lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) flowers for tea and as a flavoring for cocktails, lemonade or ice cream. If you’re a baker, try in pastries or cookies. It’s also a great herb for savory dishes — use it like rosemary.
- Amy likes to use the large, woody pieces of pruned lavender as skewers for kabobs.
- When pruning in summer, take some of the best snips and use them as cuttings to start new plants. You can either give these to friends or plant them in your garden.
- Fill small fabric pouches with dried lavender clippings to create sachets. These sachets then be placed in drawers, closets, or under pillows to impart a soothing lavender scent and repel pests like moths.
Lavender Pruning FAQ’s
Can you prune lavender any time of year?
You can, but it’s not recommended by gardening experts. Early spring and late summer are the best times to prune lavender. If you live in a cold climate, stop pruning by early fall to avoid possible frost damage.
Can you cut lavender back hard?
You can cut back lavender hard, but not down to the ground. Make sure to leave the old wood at the plant’s core; without it the plant will not recover. “Lavender can really handle a good cutting,” Osmar says, “but make sure to leave the woody stems alone, or it can kill the plant.”
About the Experts
Amy Fedele is a home gardening expert and founder of Pretty Purple Door offering online landscape design courses for DIY landscaping enthusiasts. She earned a bachelor’s degree from King’s College and has been helping homeowners design landscapes since 2014.
Osmar Castillero is the owner of Blades Landscaping Services, a lawn care and maintenance company in Lowell, Massachusetts. He has over 10 years experience in the industry.
