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Lavender Pruning and Propagating

Sep 12, 2008 -

While I am thoroughly enjoying these beautiful September days, I am all too aware of the morning dew and the leaves on the trees beginning to turn color. That can only mean one thing, fall is coming quickly. For me that means pruning and propagating lavender.

Pruning the lavender plants has become one of my favorite tasks over the past few years. While it does require some physical work, I find it very relaxing to work out in the field when the farm is a little bit more quiet. It's also a great opportunity to inspect each plant and determine if any of them need to be replaced.

"How far do I prune back my lavender plants?" is one questions I get asked most often. If you look closely at your plants, you'll see that all lavender grows on a woody base. The easiest answer to the question, is to prune about an inch above that woody base. You basically want to give the plants a good haircut. If you haven't harvested the lavender buds, you can do this all in one step. If you have harvested, just clean up the plants into those nice round mounds. Your plants will be healthier, more productive and last longer if you take this step each fall.

Fall also means propagating new plants. Because I grow so many different types of lavender on the farm, I like to carry a lot of different varieties for sale. The easiest way for me to do that is to propagate as many of my own plants as possible. Propagating is something I have had to learn over the past few years, and while there is science involved, I'm not sure I would call it an exact science. I propagate all of my plants from cuttings, so I know exactly what type of lavender plant I'm selling.

To start new plants, you want to look for a fairly new shoot of lavender that has good growth on the bottom of the stem. You can cut or tear the shoot. Tearing gives you a small heel on the base, that may help with the rooting process. Use your thumbnail to scrape off the bottom leaves and lightly scar the stem (if you visit in the next few weeks, you'll notice the nice black thumbnail on my right hand from scraping the lavender.) Dip the stem in rooting hormone and plant it in a medium that drains well. I have propagated in soil and sand. Both work, so experiment and see what works best for you. If you can give the starts some gentle heat on the bottom, a heating mat works well for this, that will help the rooting process along as well. It usually takes about 4 - 6 weeks for the lavender to root. Then you can plant them up into pots or if you're climate is really mild, you could plant them outside.

So enjoy the fall and give your plants just a little bit of attention. They will be much happier and healthier for it next year.