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Lavender
Guernsey Donkey2
Posts: 6,713
in Plants
Some of the lavender heads are finished and new shoots are appearing on the plant - when should I dead head the finished flowers - will this encourage more to flower?
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I always cut back lavender in August, but not into old wood just the flowering stems.
Same here - don't cur back until late August and just an inch or so above old wood - mine is now in its 3rd year - Tray .
Cur - meant cut - damn vino!
Right - I will wait until then - some of the flowers are finishing but others haven't bloomed yet - thanks to you both. I think mine is the French knot variety although I do have English lavender too - not sure which I prefer, they are so different.
I think you can safely cut back the dead flower heads to keep the plant looking attractive.
Check out the info given here
http://www.thelavenderg.co.uk/catalogue.htm
For French lavender like yours it says "Can flower all season if deadheaded". You might need winter protection, but as you live so far south maybe not!
For other types of lavender, once all flowers are finished that's the time to prune back as the other have said. I was told the 8th day of the 8th month by the above lavender grower in Gloucestershire. A month later for the L. intermedia types.
HTH
Thanks Nutcracker - that is a brilliant site - I never realized just how many different types of lavender there are - the G.C usually just sells a standard two or three varieties. One of my mother's favourite plants and of course we ended up with lavender bags in all the drawers!