Can Lavender get too old?

[Triphid]

I've been replanting a raised bed and have kept existing plants if I like them (it's my first stab at this flowerbed since we bought the property). There was an unloved Lavender that I've reduced in size, but it looks a bit leggy. There are only green leaves at the end of the stems, so it looks a bit miserable. The Lavender plants in the garden centre seem so much happier by comparison. Is my specimen likely to bounce back, or am I better replacing? (note: I have a habit of being a bit ruthless in the garden, so thought it best to take advice this time!)

I was listening to an episode of Gardening World recently and someone wanted to grow lavender for a wedding. All the presenters said that it was really hard to stop these plants going leggy. I know mine did, but I put that down to me being a terrible gardener. Shame because they look so lovely when you buy them.

i think you have to cut them back quite a lot at the end of the flowering season for them to keep a neat shape

if yours is looking very leggy maybe chop it right back and see how it goes?

I was wondering about this too - I love lavender but always seem to end up throwing them away every year and buying new plants.

ebb I think you're being hard on yourself. Sounds like they're prone to this problem.

I'll give it a thorough chop back and see what happens. I had hoped on having a healthy-looking, bushy lavender this year. I suppose I could always buy a contingency plant and keep it in a pot for the summer and re-evaluate things at the end of the season.

Should be fine if you prune back to new shoots at the height you would like, now is perfect for them to spring back with new growth. We prune after flowering to avoid woody leggy plants.

English lavender go on and on if pruned. French are better replaced every year. Never tried Dutch.

Correct pruning/renovation to keep english lavender from getting leggy:

Think of it more as harvesting the flowers and you'll be getting there. In late August cut all the flowers off and round the plant down to a nice dumpy profile. Don't cut into old wood. And don't do it later than the first week of September. This is because the plant will continue to make new growth, which will get frosted in the coming week and could kill the plant.

Then in the spring (about now) go back over the plant again (this might be the first time if you didn't get around to doing it last Autumn.) You can cut back to wherever you see new shoots appearing. If you can't see any new shoots then wait another couple of weeks until new shoots appear. Again, don't cut back into old wood unless it has strong new growth appearing on it.

Mine is fine - I always cut it right back as much as I can.