Re: Trimming lavender bushes
My lavender bushes get a trim every year. The dry dead stuff at the
bottom can be cut back. What you don’t want to do is cut into the living
wood of the main stems of the plant, so cut back gradually. As long as
the stuff is brittle and dry you can remove it without fear, but don’t
cut through the main stems.
As far as shaping the tops of the plants go, bear in mind that the more
greenery you cut off, the less the plants will be able to make food from
light. I usually cut off about two inches of stuff around the living
tops and living sides of the plants, just to give them a mounded look.
But my plants are 11 years old.
Rand B. Lee, Freelance Writer & Editor
Founder and President, The North American Dianthus Society
Founder and President, The North American Cottage Garden Society
Member, Garden Writers Association of America
Author, PLEASURES OF THE COTTAGE GARDEN (Michael Friedman Publishers)
copyright 1998, ISBN 1-56799-695-7
randbear@nets.com
1306 Lujan Street
Santa Fe, NM 87505-3220
505-438-7038
Zone 6a
7000 feet elevation
