How to Trim Lavender

Trimming During the Growing Season

Wait until the second year to trim a lavender shrub. Lavender takes a few years to get fully established. The first year you plant it, it may only produce a few stalks of flowers. In subsequent years, it will produce an ever-larger bush of flowers. The first time you trim lavender, during its second year of growth, you may only get a handful of stalks. By year 3 or 4, you should have 5 - 8 bunches of lavender you can use to dry and use or display.

Trim lavender right when the flowers open. Lavender is at its most fragrant right when the flower buds open. This should happen in late spring or early summer. Trim lavender in the afternoon, when the essential oils are strongest. You can wait a few weeks after the flower buds open to enjoy them in your garden, but by the time you trim them, the oils won't be as strong. If you're using the lavender to make essential oil, it's better to trim them early.

Use a very clean set of pruning shears. Use a hand pruner or shears that have been washed clean of dirt and disinfected in a bleach solution. Taking this precaution will help ensure that the plant doesn't pick up a bacterial disease. You should also make sure the shears are very sharp so that they make a clean cut that will heal over quickly. Avoid using craft scissors to trim lavender. They don't make a clean enough cut. Bypass pruners are your best option. These are spring-loaded with two curved blades.

Gather the stalks and trim the shrub back by a third. Use one hand to gather together enough stalks to make a fistful, then trim the stems with the shears. Trim them back so that 1/3 of the length of the stems is left on the shrub. If your shrub is on the older side, you'll likely have to cut more than one bunch. Don't cut into the woody part of the shrub. Make sure to leave all of the wood intact, since cutting it could injure the plant.

Trim again when the second flush of flowers opens. Later in the summer, the shrub will produce another flush of flowers. You can trim these the same way you trimmed the first flush, cutting the stalks by the fistful.

Pruning in Preparation for Winter

Prune to an inch above the wood. In the fall, after the second flush has come and gone, prune the stems down to an inch above the wood. Leaving them long will create space for snow to collect on the shrub and break it, or wind to blow off weaker branches. Pruning the shrub to prep for winter will make it much more likely to survive the harsh weather. Taking the time to do this will also help to prevent more of the shrub from turning to wood. The parts of the plant that turn to wood won't produce new lavender stalks; the stalks grow from new shoots that emerge from the shrub every year. A big, woody base is prone to cracking or rotting, so the idea is to keep it from getting too woody.

Don't take away the wood itself. Even though you don't want the base to get too woody, you can't cut away old wood on a lavender shrub. Some shrubs rejuvenate themselves when you cut back the wood, but lavender doesn't. What you cut won't grow back. Make sure you never cut the part of the shrub that has turned to wood.

Trim away dead or damaged parts in spring. If you live in a place with heavy snows and harsh weather, your lavender bush is likely to lose a few branches over the winter. Examine the shrub in early spring, before it begins producing new shoots. Remove any broken or rotting branches to make way for new growth.

Drying and Using Lavender

Dry the lavender. After you've trimmed lavender, you can display it in a vase or dry it for further use. To dry lavender, you have three choices: you can tie it into bunches and hang it up, lay it out in the sun and let it dry over the course of a few days, or use a food dehydrator. To hang your lavender to dry, use a rubber band to tie the stems together. Hang the lavender bunch upside-down in a cool, dry spot. Allow it to dry for a week or two. Drying lavender this way preserves its color and scent. To dry your lavender in the sun, lay it flat on a screen, and set the screen in a sunny spot. The lavender will dry over the course of 5 days or so. Lavender dried in the sun tends to fade to a lighter color.

Use lavender in craft projects. Lavender's relaxing yet stimulating scent makes it a popular ingredient in lotions, soaps, and deodorants of all kinds. Remove the dried buds from the lavender stalks and use them to create essential oil, sprinkle them into homemade soap, or mix them with rose petals and other dried flowers to create potpourri.

Cook and bake with lavender. Lavender is an edible herb that tastes delicious in both sweet and savory dishes. Flavor yellow cake with a teaspoon of ground lavender, or add lavender buds to the pot when you're making roast beef. Lavender also makes an excellent herbal tea.