Trimming lavender in the Fall

Lavender Hill

Today I thought I would share with you a few photographic examples demonstrating how I trim back first-year lavender plants that grew ‘as they wished’ over a first full growing season.

In these examples is Lavandula Angustifolia ‘Seal’ (variety).

‘Seal’ lavender plants were available during the summer of 2020 at the Farm Gate with a safe shop online option and safe Farm Gate pick up system.

First Year ‘Seal’ Lavender. I don’t usually allow them to bloom the first year but I kept one un-cut as an example.

‘Seal’ was propagated in 2019 and over-wintered inside my greenhouse before being potted-up for the 2020 season.

Please also note that while the lavender in the examples is photographed in a pot, this was done for demonstration purposes only. Lavender planted in pots will not survive the winter (in my growing zone 5a) unless the pots are buried deeply inside a protective greenhouse.

Trimming Lavender Example one:

Note: To enlarge photos (and read my comments) click the first photo of each example and then scroll right through the remaining photos.

I’ll even this one out as it is left side heavy
It’s branching out above my shears so I’ve decided to trim above this area
I took a little off the left side too…not too much; about 2 inches off the top

 

Example two:

This lavender plant has a couple ‘leggy’ stems shooting out.
I cut back this entire stem to the main ‘trunk’ of the plant.
And I took a little trim off the top of the longest stems of about an inch.

Example three:

This little plant is struggling. This one will require drastic measures.
Look at how wiggly this branch has grown! I will cut this entire piece out.
Now that the wiggly branch is cut out I don’t like the shape of the plant and will cut at the arrow
With the large branch cut out the main part of the plant, although considerably smaller, will hopefully retain more energy to survive another winter.

Here is something to look for on your plants when deciding where to trim:

You may see a difference in colour on the main stems of lavender plants. Darker towards the ‘woody’ lower part of the stem and lighter and softer towards the new growth. In the fall I like to trim at or above the new growth.

Good luck with your fall gardening and remember growing and caring for lavender is a labour of love and it takes time. A lavender plant takes at least 3 years to grow to full maturity. The steps you take during these early years to slowly trim and shape your plants will help them to grow into a classic lavender pincushion shape.

 

Third year Hidcote
Second year Phenomenal
Second year Phenomenal

And a final tip…you may wish to cover your young lavender plants during their first winter to help insulate them from any freeze/thaw cycle(s). The three plants in the above photos were covered last winter (winter 2019). I simply covered them with over-turned large plastic pots. These pots also prevented them from being crushed under the weight of snow that, in my circumstance, gets dumped in this same area by the snow plough.

Lavender in winter

Lavender Hill

I took a stomp through deep snow and drifts to check on my lavender still resting dormant inside my little greenhouse. It will be many weeks before it awakes.

Lavender over-wintering inside the greenhouse
Lavender over-wintering inside the greenhouse
The greenhouse in winter
The greenhouse in winter
+5C inside the greenhouse today
+5C inside the greenhouse today

And I took a hike out to the far edge of the secret garden where lavender also grows and to the western lavender streams still very much asleep under its cozy snow blanket.

Secret Garden Lavender
Secret Garden Lavender
Lavender Streams under snow cover
Lavender Streams under snow cover

Everything still in a deep winter’s sleep, I retreated inside where I store my dried lavender bundles. After pulling back the protective covers off the storage baskets, I took in a deep breath. Temporarily contented I wait patiently.

 

making lavender loaf

Lavender Hill

Firstly, this is not my recipe. It was circulating around social media…you know one of those posts that is shared by everyone ~ thus giving a nice boost of free marketing to its creator ~ [the] reluctantentertainer[dot]com who named it Downton Abbey Lavender Tea Bread. Well I’m calling it a Lavender loaf…as it’s made in a loaf pan, slices like banana loaf ~ lemon loaf ~ meat loaf ~ you get my drift?

I assembled utensils and ingredients and began:

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Would you like a slice?

 

The Downton Abbey Lavender Tea Bread recipe (Lavender Loaf) was a success.

But there are a couple things I recommend:

  1. The recipe called for 2 Tbsp of dried lavender (which is A LOT) ~ I used 1 Tbsp of Lavender Hill Hippie culinary lavender which was more than sufficient. Next time, when using Lavender Hill Hippie Culinary Lavender, I would use even less (1 tsp for a milder lavender-tasting loaf to 1 tbsp for a stronger lavender-tasking loaf).
  2. In my electric oven the recommended 45-50 minutes bake time at 325 degrees F was not long enough. At 50 minutes when the toothpick I inserted into the loaf came out raw I decided to switch my oven to Convection Bake and baked the loaf for another 10 minutes. In these 10 minutes the loaf browned up lovely and the toothpick emerged dry when tested. Next time, I think I would choose to Convection Bake for the duration.

Other thoughts:

  • use lavender sugar in the recipe and omit lavender from the milk
  • strain the lavender buds from the milk
  • top with a glaze made from lavender icing sugar
  • store in an air-tight container in the fridge…I noticed that while photographing the loaf that the sliced pieces began to dry out more quickly than anticipated

This is a very easy recipe with readily-accessible ingredients ~ that is if you have culinary lavender in your spice cupboard. The recipe comes together quickly, bakes in under an hour, slices nicely and presents well.

Its texture is of a dense, slightly grainy/crumbly cake but it holds together when sliced. The lavender flavour is present with no other flavouring undertones… the vanilla extract (and I used the real thing not flavoured vanilla) is lost. This perhaps in part because of the amount of lavender used. This I think could be improved by lessening the quantity of lavender or alternately balancing the lavender taste with another such as lemon & lavender ~ which I am anxious to try.

~ thanks for checking in…if you need culinary lavender I grow, harvest, dry, clean and sell culinary lavender at local markets and online through the Rustic Lavender Boutique.

 

Lavender Hot Chocolate Fusion

Lavender Hill

It’s snowing here and the wind is HOWLING! Time for a warm-up by the fire with a mug of hot chocolate ~ fused with the gentle taste of lavender.

Made from three simple ingredients, I created this decadent lavender hot chocolate fusion recipe in 2016 when I introduced it to local markets.

If you would like to make Lavender Hot Chocolate Fusion in your own kitchen, the recipe is available as a FREE digital download.

Time to drink up and add another log to the fire….

Go to the Rustic Lavender Boutique

Budding Lavender

Lavender Hill

It’s almost summer solstice and my lavender is in varying stages of budding up and budding out. The L. angustifolia varieties are in bud while the L. x intermedia are far behind ~ but that’s normal for the lavadins of Lavender Hill that bloom later.

This is three year old L. angustifolia ‘Hidcote’ variety of lavender that I planted, towards the end of summer 2016, into the flower bed that runs alongside my driveway. This year, I’ll allow this little L. angustifolia to flower, whereas in year 1 and year 2, I cut or pinched off any flower spikes to direct energy into the plant rather than expend that energy on producing flower spikes.

This is another 3 year old L. angustifolia ‘Hidcote’ planted out in one of the lavender streams. Its development isn’t as advanced as its sister in the other location.

Subtle colouring between varieties and varying stages of growth may be seen in the following photos:

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