Should You Prune Lavender
“Pruning lavender keeps it looking full, encourages new growth and flowering, and gives you lots of fresh tips to harvest throughout the season,” says Amy Fedele, a home gardening expert and Pretty Purple Door blogger.Since lavender dislikes extreme heat or cold, it can grow perennially in USDA Plant Hardiness Zones 5 to 8.North or south of those zones, it does better as an annual, or in containers that are brought inside during extreme wet or cold weather.“Ideally, you should prune your lavender twice in a growing season — once in early spring and once in late summer, after it’s done blooming,” she says.Do your last pruning by early fall, especially if you live in a cold climate, where frost can damage fresh growth.If you live where there’s risk of extreme cold, Connecticut nursery White Flower Farm experts advise that you cover your lavender plants with evergreen boughs to protect them from frigid winds