Where to prune my lavender?

[SfromKY]

Hi all. I have this little lavender bush. It is crawling forward and on the ground bc of the little tree that has grown over it (was like this when I moved in). I plan to prune that tree, letting the lavender stand tall and straight and no longer on the ground like this. I read online that I can not cut the woody area since new growth can not start there. But as you can see from the second photo, where my index finger is, there is some growth on the woody parts. So, my question is, can I cut right after my index finger and still get flowers next year? I intend to cut as much of the woody parts as possible to make the plant shorter and less woody. Thanks.

 

[Tetters]

Although you could cut the one or two stems right back to those live bits, it really is a bad idea. Much better, when the flowers have died off to cut in the healthy top growth or else you'll just make the plant look worse. Lavender, although perennial, is only a relatively short lived shrub, and it's very easy to propagate from a packet of seed. The variety ''munstead'' is a neat smaller version, and I suggest you grow some new plants.

 

[Mike Allen]

I've never had any luck with lavender. I remember when working for the MOD. It was the residence of the Garrison Commander, a Brigadier no less. His wife mentioned one day. A garden with lavender in. The lady of the house, rules the day. I looked at her, and smiled. My silent thoughts were. Not where I am concerned missus. Sad to say. She was so irratic. Happy days. lol

 

[Oliver Buckle]

Wait until it has finished flowering. Personally I would then cut it back hard to the lower new growth and take cuttings from what you have taken off. Anything is going to take a little while, but I quite often plant three cuttings eight or nine inches apart to get a good size bush relatively quickly. If they start hampering each other or getting too big you can always take one or two out later.

 

[Sinajuavi]

Lavender plants die quite often, especially in colder climates. Here in the Virginia Piedmont we have trouble keeping them alive. I learned that the thing to do is plant a number of plants, and add a few every year to keep up with the die-off.

 

[Tetters]

I agree totally with your growing plan @Sinajuavi, and one thing that kills them off quickly is hard pruning. Actually, when it comes to hard pruning, this is probably one of the only plants I can think of that would not get the ''hard prune'' option