Keeping lavender in shape

A late summer trim after flowering will keep plants shapely

GIVE your lavenders a trim now to keep them in shape and prevent them becoming woody.

Late summer is the best time to prune this iconic plant, once it has finished flowering. Simply remove the spent flower stems and around an inch (2.5cm) of leafy growth.

Avoid cutting into the older, woody material as this won't rejuvenate and you will be left with ugly, stumpy bushes.

If you harvested the flowers of your lavender earlier in the summer to use for their scent, all you need to do now is run a pair of shears over the bushes to keep them neat. Again, take care not to cut into the older wood.

Despite regular pruning, lavender bushes tend to become straggly after a few years so it is worth taking cuttings and growing new plants for when the time comes to replace them.

It is easy to do - take 4in (10cm) lengths of healthy growth, strip away the lower leaves and insert them around the edge of a pot filled with a dampened mix of seed compost and perlite or vermiculite to improve the drainage.