Gardener's clever lavender hack to get a 'perk' from your garden this summer
Summer is the perfect time to take care of your garden - but your lavender could be needing some attention right now. The beautiful smelling plant can transform any garden and make it smell like a spa, but it's important to keep it happy. One keen gardener took to TikTok to share just how you can give your plant some love, and what it may be trying to tell you.
Right now, lavender plants are blooming, and while yours may be looking very lush and purple, it will still need to grow again next year, so looking after it is important.
Gardening warning as cutting back hedges in July 'could land you in jail'
If you want more blooms next year, and some perks to enjoy this year, then you'll want to make sure "you're giving your bush a really good trim", says the TikToker who goes by the name @ View From The Potting Bench. He said now is a great time to cut off those long flowering stems, and not just because it smells good, but because "it keeps the plants tidier and bushier for next year".
If you want your lavender to keep performing, the expert recommended to grab some string and some cutters. He advised: "You first need to make sure that you're not cutting in too deep into the woody stems," and showed an up-close view of a lavender stem.
"If you look closely you've got the green lush growth and then the woody old stems at the bottom which we don't want to cut in to," and said instead, you want to cut one or two inches just above that "woody material still in the fresh new growth".
Once you have cut it, the gardener advised not to throw it away, but instead to hang them somewhere dark for a week or two to let them properly dry out and once dry, can put them in little pouches as a natural air freshner, or under your pillow for a relaxing scent. The expert also recommended crumbling some of the fragrant leaves over a bath with some bath salts and pretend you have your "own little spa day".
He concluded: "So take my advice and cut back your lavender, not just for the health of the plant, but because lavender deserves to be used and not just looked at."
It comes after Michael the Mediterranean Gardener, a TikTok influencer, recently divulged one vital maintenance move you ought to carry out in July, tapping into the 'perfect time' window. Michael explained: "What we're looking for in a candidate for a cutting is a nice, straight, healthy stem that doesn't have any flower buds. We're looking for something that is just starting to harden off."
He instructed users to select an unbudded part of the plant, noting: "If we look down, we can see the change in colour moving from green just going into that slightly woodier colour."
He warning against snipping too far down, warning that it "won't do anything". Instead, "peel away all leaves from the stem apart from a couple at the very top."
Next, take a sharp blade and make a clean cut at the bottom where the leaf nodes are. This is the point on the stem where a leaf or a group of leaves emerges. You can recognise a node on lavender as a slight swelling or bump on the stem, often where leaves are attached.
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