Cutting Back
 

I was newbie here a few years ago. Haven't posted for a while and what do
you know, in terms of knowledge and skills at least I'm still a newbie!

I have a lot of Lavender and Hebe in my garden. They look great but I'm
unclear as to what to do once the summer is over. Should I be chopping them
back for the winter? If so, when and how vigorously?

Oh, and Ceanothus too. I left mine alone over the past two winters as I
liked the size. It now fails to flower to any significant extent and I'm
wondering if it's because I didn't prune it. Any suggestions?

Expect more basic questions to come!

Thanks in advance for any advice...

MA

Lavender - shear off the flowers either now or when over. If now, you still have time to dry them. In spring, clip over, making sure you do not cut into old, hard wood.

Hebe - dead head; cut back to new bud.

Ceanothus - http://www.gardenaction.co.uk/plantf...ia-lilac_2.asp

There are two theories with Lavender. One is give them a short back and sides after flowering in summer (say, August), and the other is to do it in mid-spring, after the worst of the frosts have past, (say late april). I have a low lavender hedge 30 feet long, and I've tried them both over the years and they both work. The disadvantage of the summer one is that you don't enjoy the dried flowers sitting on the plants through the rest of the year. The advantage of the summer cut is that the bushes are much tidier for most of the year, and flower earlier and better the next year.

I trim my lavender pretty hard with electric hedge clippers to the size I want and I don't care what I'm cutting through, and the plants look brilliant and are the size I want. It doesn't seem to matter that I'm inevitably cutting into some old wood. But what you do need to do is ensure that you are not cutting hard back into old wood at a time of year when they will be (soon) exposed to frost - that does kill them.

If your Ceanothus is not flowering, it is not because you didn't prune it. It isn't a plant that is invigorated by pruning. Rather the reverse, you can kill it by over-pruning it.

Cutting Back
 

"louisxiv" wrote in message
...
I was newbie here a few years ago. Haven't posted for a while and what do
you know, in terms of knowledge and skills at least I'm still a newbie!

I have a lot of Lavender and Hebe in my garden. They look great but I'm
unclear as to what to do once the summer is over. Should I be chopping
them back for the winter? If so, when and how vigorously?

Oh, and Ceanothus too. I left mine alone over the past two winters as I
liked the size. It now fails to flower to any significant extent and I'm
wondering if it's because I didn't prune it. Any suggestions?

Expect more basic questions to come!

Thanks in advance for any advice...

MA

You can cut all of them back after flowering, but with the Lavender and
Ceanothus do not cut back into old wood or they will not reshoot; cut back
an inch or two above good, healthy growth. Ceanothus is very prone to
die-back (a fungal disease), so cut out any sick or blackened shoots. It
also has a fairly short life span; 10 years being a fair average. If your
shrub is elderly, that may explain the poor flowering. If it's still young,
feed it with Tomorite to encourage it to flower next year.

You can cut the Hebe back a little harder. They generally come back quite
well. An elderly plant should be treated with some respect, as very
vigorous pruning can be a shock to them. Bare in mind, also, that not all
Hebes are fully hardy. They are very easy to take cuttings though, so you
could use your trimmings to grow on a replacement should the worst happen.

Spider

Cutting Back
 

"Spider" wrote in message
...

"louisxiv" wrote in message
...
I was newbie here a few years ago. Haven't posted for a while and what do
you know, in terms of knowledge and skills at least I'm still a newbie!

I have a lot of Lavender and Hebe in my garden. They look great but I'm
unclear as to what to do once the summer is over. Should I be chopping
them back for the winter? If so, when and how vigorously?

Oh, and Ceanothus too. I left mine alone over the past two winters as I
liked the size. It now fails to flower to any significant extent and I'm
wondering if it's because I didn't prune it. Any suggestions?

Expect more basic questions to come!

Thanks in advance for any advice...

MA

You can cut all of them back after flowering, but with the Lavender and
Ceanothus do not cut back into old wood or they will not reshoot; cut back
an inch or two above good, healthy growth. Ceanothus is very prone to
die-back (a fungal disease), so cut out any sick or blackened shoots. It
also has a fairly short life span; 10 years being a fair average. If your
shrub is elderly, that may explain the poor flowering. If it's still
young, feed it with Tomorite to encourage it to flower next year.

You can cut the Hebe back a little harder. They generally come back quite
well. An elderly plant should be treated with some respect, as very
vigorous pruning can be a shock to them. Bare in mind, also, that not all
Hebes are fully hardy. They are very easy to take cuttings though, so you
could use your trimmings to grow on a replacement should the worst happen.

Spider

Thanks Spider