Sage and Lavender Help Please
2 questions about pruning plants:-
My sage has exploded - I trimmed lots off it about 3 weeks ago and it is starting to grow back in most parts already. Thing is, I do not think I can keep it from getting woody and overgrown - should I cut more? If so when is best? Or shoudl I try to propogate some fresh plants from this one - I do not know how long a sage plant lives for.
I have several lavendar plants and some are doing really well and I'm wondering how to harvest the flowers - should I cut the stalks, or some of the bushier part of the branch that the flower stalk is growing from? Does it matter when lavendar plants are cut back?
I'm shy of cutting plants back, but now I have some established (yeah!) I realize I need to figure this out to keep them bushy and attractive so I'd appreciate any advice.
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(post #12793, reply #1 of 8)
Chris: If you are in to bare wood with a few little scraggly leaves on the sage, I'd wait before you do any more pruning! If you merely lopped off the tops and still have lots of leaves below, you can trim more. I trim my sage back pretty severely in the spring and it always comes back. I didn't this year on one plant and it looks awful. I'll lop it in winter and see next spring if it's okay. It's in a perennial bed and I'm less tolerant of bad appearance there!
On lavendar, although I have many different kinds and swear each year I'll harvest, I just can't. They are so beautiful in bloom, I leave them as is. My understanding for harvesting is that you want to cut them back before the blossoms pop open...when they are just starting to. Someone more knowledgeable may correct me here. I think it's fine to cut into the bush. I do it after the bloom to keep them in shape.
(post #12793, reply #2 of 8)
When you cut back your sage, does it still bloom? The one year I did it I didn't get any flowers. SInce it looks so great in bloom, I'd much rather wait til after it blooms to prune if it needs it. Last year mine didn't flop at all, but this year it's been beaten down by all the rain, so I don't get to enjoy it as much.
BD
(post #12793, reply #4 of 8)
Mine bloomed for the first time a couple of weeks before I cut them back. I know you shouldn't let some culinary herbs flower, wasn't sure if this is true for sage.
(post #12793, reply #5 of 8)
I have no idea about the flavor; never thought about it before. I grow mine largely for their appearance and the fact that they're woodchuck-proof (so far).
Do you know anything about propagating them? Mine, like yours, can get a bit woody at the bottom; doesn't look like a good candidate for division. Haven't tried collecting seed; they certainly didn't self sow.
BD
(post #12793, reply #8 of 8)
I posted what I found out about propagating in the message before this one (as usual, I get mixed up who I'm reply to about what).
I have to persuade you to try eating some of that lovely sage! Its so good with pork, and you can't beat a cornbread dressing flavored with chopped fresh sage and some fresh thyme too if you have it. My husband generally wonders why I go to the trouble rather than buying a jar, but he acknowledged that fresh sage is far superior to store-bought dried, as for fresh, supermarkets charge $2 for a couple of sprigs!
(post #12793, reply #6 of 8)
Yes to both. I've cut it and had no blooms, and cut it and had tons. There's a difference between the ornamental and the culinary. My culinary never blooms (or never gets the chance). On my ornamental, I prune it dramatically first thing in the spring. It gets bushier so less loppy because of that. The culinary sage in my perennial bed I didn't prune this spring and regret it. It's loppy and not very unattractive, but it's in the front border in front of the house, so I don't want to cut it right now. Kinda of 6 of one and 1/2 dozen of the other. Do I want it semi-loppy and unkempt or shorn and ugly?
(post #12793, reply #7 of 8)
That is what I've been struggling with - when I cut back my 2 biggest (culinary) sages, some came back looking better, but some still looks shorn - I guess I need more practice.
I checked with my Mum (who has a book for everything) and she said that Sages are typically only good for 3 years and then it gets difficult to prevent them from becoming woody &/or straggly. My propagation book recommends taking heel cuttings end of Summer/start of Fall, and planting those out next Spring. These aren't expensive plants, but they are so useful, I want to keep them around, and in my decorative borders.
My purple sage is a little slower growing and easier to manage - I think I'll try cuttings from both later this year.
(post #12793, reply #3 of 8)
My two beds are perennials and I started them less than 2 years ago, so it is pretty important for the plants to look nice. I wondered if I should have let my sages flower - but it seems like the flavor is still the same, its just that they got so big, and in places, woody. Some parts of the plants have put out normal looking growth, some have put out tiny leaves (I guess they'll get bigger?) some are not doing much, so the overall effect is patchy!
The flowers do look nice on the lavendar plants, but as they get bigger, I think I'll be able to afford to harvest some - I think I have 6 of them.