We have a row of lavender (Hidcote) that was newly planted in June.
I've been reading conflicting advice online about pruning lavender in its first year. Some sites say not to prune at all, others to prune only flowers and others say to prune hard -- I've copy-pasted some of the info I found online below.
Should I prune only the spent flowers, and should I be doing it now or wait until autumn? I've got no experience in gardening so any advice will be appreciated!
"Newly planted or very young plants need a chance to establish themselves, and in order to do this, they need to be able to focus on growing roots. If you cut back lavender in its first year, it will put energy towards growing leaves rather than roots and this will make it a weaker plant in the long term."
"Prune the flowers of your lavender plant (as heartbreaking as it may be!) after planting it in your garden. This will help your plant, restore its energy in producing these beautiful flowers you love so much, and use it to forms a lovely foliage. If you don't trim your plant, its energy loss will cause the base of the plant to become woody later."
"Trim newly planted lavender hard after flowering, in August/September."
Here's a picture of the lavender I've got now. I haven't been removing the flowers, and there are lots now that are spent.