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Is there a right time for pruning French Lavender
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Posted by mistymorn Brisbane Qld (My Page) on Tue, Jul 19, 05 at 3:04
My French Lavender plant is only 14 months old, and it's lovely and bushy and a mass of flowers.
It has always had flowers on it so when do I prune it, do I just give it a trim every so often.
Or is there a time in the year when I can hard prune it by about a 1/3, do they ever stop flowering ?.
I would love to know. ...MM |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Is there a right time for pruning French Lavender
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Hi MM,
I asked this same question not so long ago. Just look further down the page for 'pruning lavender'. I got some good answers.
Cheers,
Dee. |
RE: Is there a right time for pruning French Lavender
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Hi Dee I had a look at the other posting but it really did not help me much but thanks anyway, different lavenders need different pruning so I did a bit of Googling and came up with website with a bit more
info on it do have a look at the link below. Cheers...MM |
Here is a link that might be useful: Lavender Pruning.
RE: Is there a right time for pruning French Lavender
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| hi mm, my french lavender only flowers over winter and goes dormant over the summer, which is fairly standard for a lot of mediterranean plants unless they get a fair bit of water in summer. it might be your humidity keeping it active all year? I usually only have to prune my hedge once a year, usually in spring as the flowers start to go brown, but if its active all year then you might need to do it in autumn aswell to keep them tidy, I wouldnt worry about losing the flowers though because if its flowering all year then youll only lose them for a short time before new buds come along. |
RE: Is there a right time for pruning French Lavender
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Thanks TG I will just keep a eye on it and when the flowers start to go brown,
I will give it a trim, but the way it is flowering at present it could be a while.
Cheers...MM. |
RE: Is there a right time for pruning French Lavender
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hi mm, the main thing is not to let them go too long, like for a couple of years or else they get all leggy and woody underneath. when the weather starts warming up in spring or early summer should be a good time. mine have a definite finishing time when the flowers go brown (they look really horrible with all those dried up flowers sitting on top) :),
but you should do them anyway even if they dont really finish just to keep them bushy and putting on fresh growth lower down. |
RE: Is there a right time for pruning French Lavender
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| Ok TG I will do as you say, Spring it will be I think as the weather is crazy this year.Thanks..MM |
RE: Is there a right time for pruning French Lavender
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Thanks for the link MM,
Cheers,
Dee. |
RE: Is there a right time for pruning French Lavender
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- Posted by Liatris FraserCoast,Qld (My Page) on
Fri, Aug 5, 05 at 16:46
| TG, it seems wierd that your French lavender only flowers over Winter. Like MM, when I've grown it in the past, it was never out of flower long enough not to sacrifice flowers to prune it. |
RE: Is there a right time for pruning French Lavender
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| hi Liatris, no, it's not weird at all! :) Im in a mediterranean climate zone so it's a very different climate to the east coast. In their natural climate mediterranean plants will do this to cope with the long hot dry summer, they will go into a summer dormancy and it helps them conserve energy. Once the rain returns in autumn/winter they spring back into life and grow very quickly over those months. When the weather starts getting hot and dry again in spring my lavender flowers finish and produce seed and after that they shut down until the following autumn. You can keep them active by watering quite a bit but with our water restrictions it's much easier to let them follow their natural growth pattern. One year I neglected to prune and when the following winter came along they were growing way too big so I sacrificed the flowers and cut them back, but they very quickly produced more flowers which is why I think it wont be a problem even if they are continually flowering because if theyre active they seem just repeat flower soon afterwards anyway. |
RE: Is there a right time for pruning French Lavender
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Dear MM,
I have read that May is the time to prune lavender. I missed doing mine then - have only just recently pruned mine and it looks OK. I missed last year and the plant ended up being a bit scraggly. I hope it survives my pruning now. Greathawks |
RE: Is there a right time for pruning French Lavender
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| Thanks Greathawks. Seems I missed the boat, But having written that I picked up the Autumn Your Garden mag from the library as it had this lavender all over the front page and it states that the French Lavender is always in flower so you can prune anytime. It reads if you want flowers for Christmas you have to prune in Early Spring but honestly can you image Lavender taking nearly four months to flower here from pruning, somehow I think it would be a lot quicker than that. I may prune it today as I am having family up from Melbourne the last week in October so that should ensure blooms, anyway I will see how it goes. Cheers...MM. |
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