In order for lavender to develop well and bloom lushly in your home garden, regular pruning is essential. Pruning encourages growth and flowering. This is how you correctly carry out the summer cut on lavender.
In a nutshell
- Pruning ensures compact growth and abundance of flowers
- Summer cut one of a total of two cuts per year
- should not be too late in the year
- mainly used for maintenance and harvesting
Why in summer?
The so-called summer cut is usually a light shape and care cut of the lavender. It keeps the plants in shape and supports plant health. Lavender belongs to the semi-woody family, i. H. it becomes lignified and bare with increasing age. If it is not cut regularly, the lignification will continue. The shrub ages, stunted growth develops, the willingness to flower decreases more and more until finally only the tips of the shoots are green. This can only be prevented with the right cut at the right time.
The right time
When flowering is coming to an end, lavender should be cut just before all the small flowers on the spike-like panicles have withered. Depending on the weather, this is the case in late summer around the end of July. A rule of thumb is that lavender needs to be trimmed two weeks after the first flowers have formed. The flowering time and thus the exact time of pruning can vary slightly between the individual varieties.
However, all pruning measures should be completed by the end of August at the latest, even with late-flowering varieties. A later pruning would have a negative impact on the frost resistance of the plants. After cutting, they form new shoots, which in turn would not have enough time to mature before the first frost and could freeze to death. A summer pruning at the right time prevents the lavender from investing its energy in the formation of seeds and thus stimulates it to flower a second time.
Tip: If the right time has been missed, it is advisable to wait until next spring. A pruning in the fall is not recommended.
tools
With the right tool, major damage to the plants can be prevented. The most important thing is sufficiently sharp pruning shears. A large part of these subshrubs can be edited very well with it. If the lavender is already woody or its shoots are a little stronger, hedge trimmers or a small hand saw are ideal. In order to make the cut easier in general, the secateurs should always be set at a slight angle and over a leaf knot. A slightly oblique cut can avoid bruising the shoots.
Tip: It is generally advisable to thoroughly sharpen and clean all cutting tools before and, if possible, after the cut, and ideally even to disinfect them.
Instructions for cutting
care cut
While it is usually possible to cut back more in spring, by up to two thirds, the cut in summer is somewhat more reserved. Here you cut about a third. There are also differences between young and older bushes.
- always cut back young shrubs a little harder
- up to half at most
- promotes more compact growth
- cut older plants less severely
- often have very lignified shoots
- In the first step after flowering, remove withered inflorescences
- then cut the entire plant into a bushy shape
- Cut the stems about ten inches deep
- best time of day for pruning is early in the morning
- seal larger cuts after cutting
- for example with tree wax or wood tar
The seal should on the one hand prevent the penetration of germs and pathogens and on the other hand accelerate the healing process. In general, when pruning lavender in summer, care should be taken not to cut too deeply into the old wood, because there is usually no new growth there. In addition, you should leave part of the young shoots and always a short piece of last year's shoots and leaves on the plants. Sometimes the cut is too high. This is possible, but has no maintenance effect.
Tip: Regular pruning of tall lavender stems is particularly important. The shoots are shortened to a uniform length, keeping the crown dense and in shape.
For harvest
Pruning in summer can also be done for harvesting purposes. It is cut when some of the flowers are still closed, i.e. slightly earlier than with the maintenance cut. This cut should also only be in the herbaceous area. To harvest the flowers, it is advisable to remove about ten centimeters of the branches. Ideally, you cut the entire plant and tie the branches together to dry in small bouquets.
frequently asked Questions
Is summer pruning also suitable for rejuvenating old, senile plants?Opinions differ on the best time for a rejuvenation cut. Some recommend spring for this, others have had good experiences in summer, when the normal summer cut is carried out. These shrubs then sprouted freshly and flowered the following spring.
Is there anything to consider when pruning young plants in the summer?Yes, because young lavender should only be cut in summer in the first year and not in spring.
How old can lavender bushes get with optimal pruning?With regular, professional pruning and appropriate care both in summer and in spring, these plants can be at least 10 and a maximum of 30 years old.