Plant guide:ð Lavender
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Growth
Lavender Turning Brown and Woody in the Centre
Commonly affects: Lavandula angustifolia / L. x intermedia (Lavender)
The centre of an established plant becomes bare, brown, and woody, with green growth only around the outer edges, and the plant loses its rounded, bushy shape.
Potential Causes
- 1Natural aging â lavender becomes woody at the base over several years as part of its normal growth habit
- 2Lack of regular pruning allowing the plant to become leggy and open in the centre
- 3Pruning too hard into old wood, which lavender often cannot resprout from
Solution Steps
- 1Prune lightly every year after flowering, cutting back about a third of the new growth to encourage bushiness and delay woodiness
- 2Never cut back hard into bare, leafless old wood, since lavender typically won't resprout from it
- 3Accept that an old, woody plant nearing the end of its productive life (often 5-10 years) may need replacing rather than rejuvenating
- 4Take cuttings from healthy outer growth to propagate a replacement plant before the old one declines further
Prevention Tip
Regular light annual pruning after flowering, rather than infrequent hard cuts, is what keeps lavender compact and delays the woody, leggy decline that comes with age.
