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Due to the shape of its flowers, French lavender (Lavandula stoechas) is a popular ornamental plant in summer. It has a long flowering period, which can be extended with proper care. Has your French lavender faded? We explain the optimal pruning.
In a nutshell
- Cut back in early spring
- Cut back by a maximum of 1/3 when pruned annually
- Cut back faded flowers regularly
- cut back to just above woody areas to rejuvenate
- Remove entire shoots when pruning
Annual pruning
The French lavender is perennial if it is not wintered too cold. It tolerates maximum temperatures down to -5°C and is wintered out in early spring when there is no longer a heavy frost there. After the hibernation, it is time to separate and trim the lavender.
If there is no pruning in spring, this can lead to the plants becoming bare, which means that the French lavender looks faded. As a result, neglected lavender bushes produce fewer flowers, which is why they should definitely be cut back in spring.
Instructions for cutting:
- Clean the cutting tool beforehand
- Shorten shoots by 1/3
- Shorten deformed shoots
- completely remove diseased or withered shoots
Do not wait too long with the annual pruning, as this reduces the willingness to bloom. The period from March to mid-April is ideal for pruning. This gives the lavender enough time to form new shoots and does not start flowering too late.
makeover cut
If a pruning is not carried out regularly, it can happen that the French lavender becomes woody and bare in the lower area. If you need to rejuvenate the lavender, wait until just before flowering. A time in early summer is ideal, because the formation of flowers is stimulated by different hormones in the plants. These hormones also favor the formation of new shoots from the old wood.
You should not cut into the old wood when making a regeneration cut. When rejuvenating, the lavender is shortened to just above the old wood. Also remove any blossoms that have formed so far. The radical pruning is intended to stimulate the formation of new shoots from the old wood.
Notice: The French lavender needs a long time to recover after a strong pruning and the flowering usually does not occur during the season. Therefore, you must not start the rejuvenation cut too late so that the plants are strong enough again in autumn for overwintering.
clean out flowers
Cleaning out faded inflorescences extends the flowering time of the lavender. With a bit of luck, you can increase the duration not only by a second, but even by a third bloom.
It is not always easy to recognize when the French lavender has really completely faded. The striking "tuft" is wrongly interpreted as a flower. However, these are only several bracts, which makes the lavender more attractive to insects. The flowers themselves sit directly on the spike. These are small, dark purple to almost black lipped flowers.
Source: Gianni Careddu, Flora della Sardegna 115 (13), edited by Plantopedia, CC BY-SA 4.0
The French lavender has withered when the spikes already feel dry. There are usually remnants of the individual flowers to be found, but no new buds form on the spike. Then at the latest it is time for the pruning, because the formation of seeds costs the plant an unnecessary amount of energy.
Instructions for pruning the flowers:
- preferably use narrow rose scissors
- Clean scissors
- Inflorescences branch down to the leaves
- in dense plants shorten some shoots by 1/3
You should clean out the inflorescences and cut back a little lower until August at the latest. Then the spikes with the flower stalks are removed at most.
Tip: The faded inflorescences of French lavender still look very decorative. You can still dry the inflorescences completely and use them for dried bouquets.
crop cut
Although the French lavender is mainly used as an ornamental plant, it can also be used as a seasoning herb or dried for scented sachets or potpourris. Both the flower and the leaves can be cut off. For harvesting, pruning can be done at any time between May and August, but make sure that the ears are still full of fresh flowers.
If you remove leaves, shoots or flowers for harvesting, it is important to ensure correct cutting here too.
Instructions for cutting:
- use sharp scissors
- Preferably make cuts at an angle
- Perform pruning after several dry days
- always remove whole shoots
When removing flowers, cut at least as deep as when pruning faded inflorescences. If you only need a few leaves, remove the whole shoot anyway. Otherwise, the balding in this area will be promoted and the French lavender will no longer look beautiful.
frequently asked Questions
Can I take cuttings from the pruning?Yes, you can propagate the French lavender by cuttings and also use suitable shoots from the pruning. A shoot should be at least 10 cm long and strong and healthy. Cut the shoots diagonally with a sharp blade and remove the lower third of the leaves. The shoots can be rooted either in water or directly in the ground.
Does it harm the French lavender if it sets seeds?The formation of seeds always costs plants a lot of energy. If you want to multiply the French lavender from seeds, you should leave a maximum of three to four inflorescences. There are usually enough seeds in it to propagate the lavender over them and it costs the plants fewer resources. Once the seeds have matured, cut back the shoots.
Do I have to cut the lavender again in autumn?No, you shorten the inflorescences that have faded as much as possible. A strong pruning could ensure that the shoots die deep inside. The French lavender is very sensitive to temperature and can be damaged by pruning too hard in autumn, even in sheltered winter quarters. In addition, open interfaces in the winter quarters offer diseases the opportunity to penetrate through them.