Gardening tips: Expert on how to grow lavender at home
Lavender flowers are prized by flowers by gardeners in the summertime, as not only are they richly fragrant and beautiful, but they repel pests such as mosquitos, fleas and moths.
They are incredibly easy to grow and very hardy, but it is important to know that now in August is the best time to prune lavender in order to keep it compact and attractive.
Pruning, which is the gardening method of selectively removing old parts of a plant in order to encourage growth, tends to be overlooked in the summer as flowers are in full bloom.
However, lavender should always be pruned in mid to late summer in order to stop the plant from becoming overgrown and misshapen. Cutting back the lavender now will keep it tidy and also give it structure and protection in the upcoming winter months.
Michael Griffiths, a gardening expert, has warned: “Don’t leave this job too late gardeners. Now is the time to prune your lavender. Nobody wants a lavender that has gone leggy and twiggy just because you didn’t prune it at the proper time.”
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Michael is a gardener who shares his best “gardening tips and tutorials” on her TikTok account @themediterraneangardener and in one video he explained that lavender pruning is “very much a mid to late summer activity.”
He said: “I get the feeling that some people believe this to be a late autumn activity as you are getting the garden ready for winter.”
However, Michael added that lavender should be pruned when the flowers are going to be past their best. Do not to prune them when they are still in bloom and seeding or beginning to turn brown.
Some gardeners can be overcautious when it comes to pruning lavender, but it can become leggy and woody very quickly. Michael said: “You can prune as hard as you like, as long as you leave some new growth underneath the cutting point.”
Lavender should be cut slightly above its side branches or leaf nodes and this part of the plant tends to be green. It is essential to leave plenty of green on the lavender stems to make sure it keeps growing.
Try to leave the stems longer in the middle and go shorter as you cut to the outer edges of the plant in order to create an even dome shape.
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@themediterraneangardener How to prune lavender in mid to late summer #planttok #lavender #pruning #learntok #gardeningtiktok ♬ original sound – Michael – Gardening tips
Michael said he takes his pruning above the level of any new growth but warned: “If you do cut down into old wood that area may not regrow and you may lose the plant.”
He explained that the idea is to “create a nice compact shape” while pruning but said it was not a problem if the lavender goes over his garden wall as other people passing by would get a “lovely lavender smell.”
Once Michel was finished cutting, he explained that now is the perfect time to prune your lavender to help is grow some more for the upcoming colder weather.
He said: “It is going to continue to grow and will put on probably around two inches or so worth of growth but that is okay. We leave that because it is going to protect it over winter. Come next year, this will be in good compact shape and ready to put out some new flower buds for you to enjoy.”
In Michael’s comment section, many gardeners thanked him for his helpful gardening advice. One user said: “This was so helpful and stopped my lavender from becoming leggy just in time, thank you!”
However, some commentators said they were reluctant to prune their lavender just yet because bees were still pollinating from it, and Michael explained that this meant the Lavender was still flowering and should not be pruned just yet.
Michael wrote: “If there are bees there’s likely still pollen to collect – I’d leave until they’re done“
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