Islander Bill Conrad has sent us some great tips for harvesting and pruning your lavender.
“Just a note of reminder. For those who have nice lavender plants in their yards, and don’t want leggy, woody, out-of-control plants, now is the time to cut them back. I recommend cutting the stems back to within an inch or two of where the woody part of the stem turns to green.
Cutting individual stems is usually too tedious. A sharp, long-bladed reciprocating cutter will get you ‘close enough’. I use a hedge trimmer, and it seems to work fine.
If you have not yet harvested the lavender to dry it, or toss it, you would want to do that first, then use the trimmer to take the plant down to its winter cut.”
Thanks, Bill! We better get outside quick before it starts to rain again! 🙂