Overgrown neglected Lavender - can I rescue it?

[hackneybird]

I planted several nice lavender plants two summers ago and promptly ignored them.

They have now grown, but become very straggly and the centres have 'opened up'. I was thinking of giving them a good trim once they have finished flowering to see how they fare. (I know not to cut into old wood).

Is it too late to rescue them or should I chuck and replant come the autumn?

No give them a trim and they'll be fine!

I used to 'take cuttings' (pick off twigs) from my Mum's lavender plant as a child and plant them. They always grew and her plant nearly always looked like death but kept going. That said, I really killed mine this year (but it was shop bought and came out exactly as it went in, just more dead on top)...

I've managed to rescue mine by giving them a good hack, though I read in a gardening book that I shouldn't!

Trim into the green and not back to the wood. It's a good time of year to take heel cuttings (soft growth, with a small 'heel' of woody material). Put into compost and keep watered...hey presto, new plants.

I grew lavender from seed, very easy and really cheap. Took one season to grow. season two flowers!

So long as you cut above the dead wood they will be fine.

Most people are too timid about pruning lavender and allow it to get very straggly.

I've seen how a professional lavender grower prunes, and they really do seem to savage the plant.

But a few weeks later they have lovely, bushy hummocks.

Moomin - when do they do this thorough prune? After the flowering is over in late summer/autumn?

thanks for getting back to me.

Blackrock - I will try cuttings I think, thanks for the advice. x

You can cut lavender but if you cut into the woody stem, it will not grow back. It will grow back from the green stuff. It is best in general to cut the plant after it flowers each year.

Hackneybird, it's when they've finished flowering so in late August to September. It gives the new growth time to harden off before it gets really cold.

Just make sure you leave some green stem below the cuts.

Brill - thank you so much. I MUST remember to prune this year. Mind you, I'm due in Oct so not sure how able I'm going to be! Determined to rescue these plants though, don't want to waste money.

xx