Prune lavender: how and when to do it

As we have already said, there are a lot of lavender speciesbut most of those that can be found usually belong to one of these types.

• Lavandula angustifolia: This species, also called Lavandula officinalis, lavender or vera, is native to Italy and France, and has woody stems and long, thin leaves. It is commonly used to extract essential oil, with medicinal and relaxing properties.
• lavender stoechas: Stoechas comes from the Mediterranean area, and stands out for its peculiar flowers with a quadrangular spike, topped by three brightly colored bracts. It is highly valued both for its decorative value and for its medicinal properties.
• lavandula dentata: the dentata variety is typical of the western Mediterranean, where it thrives in areas with limestone soil. It produces mauve flowers in spikes of up to 5 cm, and is used for ornamental purposes, to make perfumes or for its digestive properties.
• Lavandula multifida: Also called alhucemilla, this species is recognized by the fragmentary distribution of its leaves and by the visible fine hair that covers the entire plant. It is smaller than most species, reaching heights of up to 50 cm.

Lavender is a rustic bush, which means that it is a highly resistant plant and strength, so its care is not too demanding, and even in the hottest months it does not require constant watering. However, there is one thing that is important with lavender, and that is to do at least one annual pruning to stimulate growth.

Lavender pruning can be done up to twice a year. The first pruning is recommended at the beginning of spring, and its function is to stimulate the growth of the plant, while delaying its aging. The second pruning is recommended after summer flowering, in order to remove dead branches and dry spikes.

As a woody shrub, lavender tends to become lignified, so proper pruning is necessary to prevent premature aging of the plant. follow these steps to prune a lavender plant correctly:

1. Disinfect your pruning tool. To prune lavender, both knives and pruning shears are useful.
2. Form a small bundle with some of the stems that you are going to prune, so that they are together when you cut them.
3. Make the cut halfway up the stem or at least two inches from the woody base. This is the lignified area (which turns into firewood over time) of the stem, and if you cut it from this area at the base, the plant will not grow back from this part when damaged.
4. Perform the pruning giving the lavender the desired shape. As the plant ages, its base and interior areas will depopulate, so taking special care of the lower part of the exterior will help keep it beautiful for longer.

The sowing lavender seeds is always advised in spring. Planting them is very simple, and whether you want to plant your potted lavender, in a seedbed or a germinator or directly on the ground, you simply have to moisten the area where you are going to place the seeds, previously prepared with universal substrate, and sow them with a certain separation between them to avoid excessive competition. Once planted, cover them with a thin layer of substrate and moisten them again with a spray bottle.

If you have a lot of seeds and want to make sure you plant only the good ones, you can soak them all in a glass of water 24 hours before planting. Those that are sunken will all germinate. In any case, you should see the first seeds germinate in about a week.

After knowing the properties of this plant, we mention some of the most common medicinal uses of lavender:

• In infusion, it is used to relieve nervous headaches and insomnia thanks to its relaxing and calming properties, as well as being taken after meals for its digestive effect, and can be mixed with other relaxing or digestive medicinal herbs, depending on what you want to use it for.
• However, most of its properties are used with its essential oil, with which it can be massaged to relieve muscle pain or used in soap, and it is also a good treatment against insect bites or sunburn.
• In addition, its essential oil diluted in a little water is a good hair rinse against lice, as it repels them easily. If you are interested in this use, our colleagues at OneHOWTO explain it to us How to use lavender essential oil for lice.

In this other EcologíaVerde article we show you a way to take advantage of this plant for personal care: How to make lavender soap with recycled oil.

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