Lavender Care & Pruning Guide

If you have visited the farm or one of the Lavender Planting Clinics, you may have learned that lavender needs an annual haircut. Did you remember to prune your lavender back in the fall around Halloween? If not, around Valentine's Day is a good Plan B time to prune in our Zone of 7a. According to garden lore, the best days to give your lavender a buzz cut are February 17, 18, 26 and 27. But it's still not too late...this weekend in NC, we are going to have two nice outdoor days. If you missed your annual prune in February, due to the massive amount of bad weather days, why not use the perfect weather this weekend and take care if some serious lavender business? If you live somewhere other than our region, plan a late winter trim about the same time you prune other woody shrubs, like butterfly bushes. When lavender is trimmed annually, it retains its nice bushy shape and blooms incredibly. A lavender plant left alone will eventually sprawl all over the place, weighed down by unhealthy woody limbs resulting in few blooms and a short life in the garden. So, PLEASE PRUNE YOUR LAVENDER! See below for a step-by-step pruning guide…

A quick and easy step-by-step lavender pruning guide- Trim away the spent, brown stems from last year. You will notice several inches of green foliage after the spent stems have been removed. Next give your lavender a good haircut but, be careful to not clip too far into the woody stems. Make sure to trim all the way around, leaving at least 1 inch of green foliage. Use this time to cut out dead wood or sprawling limbs. Step back and marvel at your AWESOME lavender prune job! Have a wonderful lovely lavender weekend!