Pruning lavender

I may be too late then.

Here's an article about it. It's in french, but you should still get the gist.
www.rustica.fr/articles-jardin/tailler-entretenir-lavande,1873.html

I mistakenly pruned hacked down to the bare wood my lavender last October and I thought it was a gonner. But this summer is the best it's ever been. Loads of new growth, much sturdier and less straggly and woody. Might be worth making the same mistake this autumn.

The advice is to cut before autumn to the plant overwinters with some new growth.

The ones you used to buy many years ago looked as though they'd been picked and dried just before the flowers opened properly. I believe that the lavender farmers harvest the flowers before they are fully opened (I read two Kindle novels about a family of lavender growers in the south of France in WW2 - The Lavender Keeper, and The French Promise, by Fiona McIntosh. Lots about how it is grown and harvested, and a good story too)

https://signal-corridor.live/uploads/talk/201807/medium-937240-20180725-194000.jpg%3C/span%3E https://signal-corridor.live/uploads/talk/201807/medium-904891-20180725-193958.jpg%3C/span%3E https://signal-corridor.live/uploads/talk/201807/medium-52750-20180725-193947.jpg%3C/span%3E

here are some handy hints from the Lavender Farm I visited on Sunday.

Thank you. I shall wait till autumn and try not to miss the moment again!

As Nan says...
I had loads of lavender in my old garden and usually cut it in the autumn. It took hours with a pair of large sharp scissors. Essential to do this otherwise the woody parts get damp over winter. I then kept most of the flowers, even though they appeared past it, they're still useful. I filled a couple of pillow cases and put them in the airing cupboard and now have them hanging in wardrobes in my new home; a bitter sweet memory of my old family home. Smells wonderful after a year..
I think a huge and woody bush needs to be removed. Start again with a new plant.

I was just going to ask a similar question Greyduster - when is the best time to gather the flower heads for making scented sachets? I thought of making some with the DGD

Good advice which I will follow. DH grew thirteen plants from seed this year (after I scoffed at him for trying). They are flowering their heads off at the moment and the ones in pots are doing far better than the few we put in the ground. I will be left to do any pruning as he considers that he has done his bit now but woe betide me if I get it wrong ?. He gave two plants to DD who, in time honoured fashion, killed them stone dead within the space of a few weeks. He was not pleased. When are you supposed to gather the bits you put in pot pouri?

I think the usual advice is to prune after flowering has finished, and then, NOT to prune down to the wood, as the old wood won't regenerate new growth.

Mine is still in very full flower and has grown huge the smell is wonderful I think I ll prune after it’s finished flowering which will be autumn

Mine is very woody and not doing too well in this dry weather.

Should I cut it back to the wood when it has finished flowering, or is it simply too far gone as a huge woody bush to be salvageable?

I usually do it early autumn (Spet/Oct. But that is just for convenience. I have been doing this for decades on three different lavender hedges and it seems to work. the current one I trim is till compact after 10 years.