Why You Need To Know Your Lavender's Variety Before Starting Pruning

Proper and timely pruning is essential to maintaining a gorgeous, thriving lavender plant. This yearly task helps prevent your plants from becoming leggy or overly woody and helps it maintain its bushy, compact shape. Before you get out the shears this fall, you should know that pruning needs vary greatly between lavender varieties. In general, you shouldn't prune any varieties into the woody stems as they likely won't grow back. Other details of pruning can vary, though. There are several mistakes to avoid when pruning lavender, and knowing the variety of lavender you're growing could help you avoid some of them. 

Lavender, a member of the genus Lavandula, includes more than 45 species of lavender and around 450 varieties, with even more species and varieties that have yet to be classified. There are a few varieties most commonly used in gardens, which makes determining how to prune yours easier. English, French, Portuguese, and Spanish lavender, as well as Lavandin, a popular hybrid, are likely to be what you have in your garden. They should each be pruned in different seasons and at different lengths to promote new growth, encourage flowering, and maintain their size and shape. Learning which type of lavender you have and how to prune it correctly helps you to maintain stunning purple flowers in your garden.

When you think of lavender, the purple flower spikes of English lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) are likely what you picture. This plant blooms from mid to late summer, and deadheading spent flowers encourages continuous flowering. You can prune English lavender to your preferred shape in spring after new leaves appear. When you prune the plant, remove about two-thirds of the length, cutting the stems above the bottom two sets of leaves. Spanish lavender (Lavandula stoechas) has flower spikes topped with two petal-like bracts. They're ideal if you're looking for flowering plants that will bloom all summer long. Spanish lavender requires little pruning. It's more delicate than other varieties, so go easy on pruning, being careful not to cut it back too much. Simply trim the flower stalks after they've finished blooming, avoiding the woody base. In the spring and fall, you can trim as needed to maintain the plant's size.

Early spring is the best time to prune French lavender (Lavandula dentata) to encourage new growth and blooming. This variety boasts grayish green leaves and bright purple flowers. You can prune French lavender again in the fall to maintain its shape and size. Portuguese lavender (Lavandula latifolia), also called spike lavender, is best pruned in late winter to early spring when the hardest frosts have passed. Lavandin (Lavandula x intermedia) is a hybrid of English and Portuguese lavender. Regular pruning keeps this variety healthy. You should cut back a third of the branches in early spring or after the first bloom. Dead and diseased branches should be removed throughout the growing season.