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Notebook · Guide 1 October 2026 · seasonal

Pruning lavender: the late-summer trim that stops it going woody

Trim English lavender just after flowering, taking the flower stalks and about 2.5cm of leaf — never into bare wood. And when a leggy plant is better replaced than rescued.

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An English lavender plant in late summer with spent, faded flower stalks standing above a grey-green mound of leaves.
1Late summer: the flowers are over and it's time to trim.

Lavender has one pruning rule that matters more than all the others: don't cut into the old, bare wood. Lavender rarely regrows from it, and a hard cut can kill the plant. The way to stop it going leggy in the first place is a quick, regular trim every year — and the time to do it is just after flowering.

In pictures

  1. Close-up side view of a lavender stem: a honey dashed cut line about 2.5cm into the leafy grey-green growth below the flower stalk, well above the bare woody stem.
    2Cut about 2.5cm into the leafy growth — stay well above the bare wood.
  2. A freshly trimmed lavender plant shaped into a neat, rounded dome of grey-green foliage, with shears resting beside it.
    3The result: a neat, rounded mound with green leaf all over.
  3. A two-panel contrast: on the left a lavender stem cut back into bare brown wood with no new growth (cross on it); on the right a stem cut in the green with fresh shoots appearing.
    4Cut into bare wood (left) and it rarely regrows. Cut in the green (right) and it shoots.

01At a glance

  • When: late summer, just after flowering finishes. An optional light tidy in spring.
  • Time: five minutes a plant.
  • Tools: sharp shears or secateurs.
  • You'll know it worked when: you have a neat, rounded mound of grey-green leaves, with green growth still showing below every cut.

02Step by step (English lavender)

  1. Wait until flowering is over.
  2. Remove the spent flower stalks.
  3. Take off about 2.5cm of the leafy growth below them, shaping the plant into a rounded mound.
  4. Stop while there's still green leaf below the cut. If you can see bare, brown, woody stem, you've gone far enough — go no further.
  5. In spring, you can lightly clip over the foliage if it's untidy or frost-damaged. Same rule: stay in the green.

03French lavender and other tender types

French lavender (Lavandula stoechas) and the other tender types are less hardy and shorter-lived than English lavender (L. angustifolia). They're best grown in containers that can go somewhere frost-free over winter.

04When to give up

Old lavender gets woody and gappy whatever you do. The RHS suggests replacing lavender after ten years or so. Once a plant is mostly bare wood with tufts of leaf at the ends, replace it — a hard cut won't bring it back.

05Mistakes to avoid

  • Cutting into the woody base to "rejuvenate" it.
  • Skipping the annual trim. That's how it gets leggy.
  • Pruning hard in autumn. Late-summer trim, light spring tidy — that's the rhythm.
Save your money
Replace rather than rescue. Lavender establishes quickly, so a young plant is cheap and will outperform a sprawling old one within a season.
Take cuttings from your current plant before it gets too woody — free replacements.

How we checked this

Every care and safety claim on this page is verified against horticultural and veterinary sources.

Sources: RHS — How to grow lavender · RHS — Shrubs: pruning evergreens

Checked 1 October 2026. If our advice ever conflicts with the RHS, believe them and tell us.