Lavender

[Lavender67]

We have lots of lavender that we inherited with our house which appears to be completely woody. Is there anything we can do with it?

Sadly not really... you can try cutting them back but lavender generally doesn’t regrow well (or sometimes at all) from the old wood.
It might be better to replace them with new plants.

If the old wood is quite firm and still has any new shoots growing on it then it's possibly rescuable.
Wait a few more weeks until the worst of the cold weather has gone, then cut the woody stems about 1 inch above the lowest shoot. This should encourage new growth.

If the old wood looks dead and rotten with no new growth then yes, I agree with pp to replace.

If the old wood looks dead and rotten with no new growth then yes, I agree with pp to replace. If it looks dead and rotten, then the plant is dead, and there isn't much choice!

The trouble with lavender is that the most mature wood doesn't re-shoot. So if you cut it back too far it can die. So wait ill the new shoots start appearing, and, as popcorn says, trim to a wee bit above the lowest shoot. If they're still too "leggy" for your taste, then replace.

That said, I'm trying to discourage lavender from my gravel garden, so each year I cut them back to about 5 cms, and each year they return. These are small plants (seedlings not more than 10 years old) - I can guarantee that if you cut a huge plant back to 5cm it wouldn't survive, but it may be you will be lucky from a cut which is "too low".