Lavender, with its intoxicating fragrance, evokes summer, sunshine and the Mediterranean. It forms a beautiful perennial sub-shrub, making it a must-have for dry gardens. Its charming spike flowers, in shades of purple, mauve, pink or even white, bloom and perfume the garden throughout the summer. Low-maintenance and hardy, lavender thrives in very well-drained, poor and stony soil. Most lavender varieties are very resistant down to -15°C, except for Spanish lavender (Lavandula stoechas) which suffers in cold below -5°C. Lavender should be planted in full sun and easily withstands high temperatures and drought. To maintain its lovely rounded, bushy shape, lavender needs regular pruning.

Discover all our tips and advice for successful lavender pruning!

When to prune lavender?

Lavender should be pruned every year when the flowers begin to fade, from late July to mid-August. Moreover, the cut flowers make lovely bouquets that will perfume your home or wardrobes.

How to prune lavender?

Equipment: what will you need?

You will need secateurs and shears that are clean. Disinfect your tools with alcohol before use to prevent disease transmission between plants.

Why prune and maintain lavender?

Pruning lavender helps maintain a beautiful, compact rounded shape and prevents it from developing hard woody stems that will become bare over time without producing new growth. It's therefore important to act beforehand! Without maintenance, lavender becomes straggly, sparse and grey in places. Moreover, pruning lavender prevents premature ageing of the plant and extends its lifespan by encouraging branching. Thinning it out also helps avoid fungal diseases. Use the flowers to make small bouquets or scented sachets that act as moth repellents. As my grandmother liked to say: "when you have lavender in the cupboard, moths disappear in a flash!"

Example of unpruned lavender that's become sparse in places

Formative pruning

This is done on young plants planted in the current year. Using secateurs or shears, trim back any overly vigorous young branches and shape your lavender into a rounded form. This helps create a dense shape and encourages the young plant to branch out. To avoid weakening it, take care not to cut back more than half its height.

Maintenance pruning

This helps mature plants maintain a rounded shape and prevents lavender from becoming bare.

  • Gather the flower stems into bunches and cut them with secateurs. The bunches can be kept to perfume your home. Tip: Pruning flowers in the evening yields much less fragrance than in the morning! For a fragrant home, be an early riser!
  • Then, using shears, cut back the current year's growth by half to create a spherical shape.
  • Some important precautions: never prune below the last green leaves and don't cut into the old wood of the lavender! This cannot produce new growth. Over-pruning can be fatal!
Prune flower stems with secateurs, then cut back current year's growth by half with shears.

My lavender has bare patches! What should I do?

If your lavender has become bare in places, you can remove one or two old branches. Be careful - lavender dislikes hard pruning! Proceed sparingly:

  • Select an old, bare branch.
  • Check that above this old branch there are young shoots from the current year that can be pruned. Cut these young shoots back by half to encourage branching. As they regrow, they will "hide" the bare branch.
  • If you wish to remove the old branch completely, cut it back to ground level.
  • Apply a pruning sealant to protect the plant.

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