Easy & Fragrant Use For Late Lavender Cuttings - Garden Mentors

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Need simple uses for lavender cuttings?

If you’re looking for lavender cutting uses that don’t take a lot of effort, you’ve come to the right place. We’ve found many ways to enjoy lavender without having to sew a stitch. Or brew up an herbal potion. Plus, with late season lavender cuttings, the first use we’ve achieved is letting the bees enjoy the garden lavender.

How to freshen up your home with lavender cuttings:

One of our favorite ways to use lavender cuttings is to deal with stinky rug odors.

While rugs can get stinky in any house over time, our doggy pals can odor them up fast. And when you’ve got dogs, both your vacuum cleaner and rugs may eventually begin to smell rather canine over the years. Fortunately, lavender can really help mitigate that not-so-alluring aroma. And, it only requires the use of yard clippings you might otherwise throw in the compost.

In fact, you can use just about any part of your lavender harvest to freshen up carpets and rugs. This means you can use parts including fresh lavender cuttings, fresh lavender flowers, or use the lavender stem and leaf trimmings that aren’t ideal for crafting.

How to destink rugs with fresh or dried lavender flowers:

1. The night before or at least a few hours before plan to vaccum, sprinkle dried lavender on your carpets.
2. Walk over them and crush them to release their fragrance.
3. Bare feet are great for this if you don’t mind dusting flower bits off.
4. And you can toss a fistful of lavender into a bagless vacuum canister.
5. Leave the lavender in your rugs or carpet for a while to infuse more fragrance.
6. Vacuum the lavender flowers up when you’re ready to clean up. That’s it!

Hot summer cool downs with garden-fresh lavender ideas:

Lavender is for helping you chill out — both emotionally and physically. In fact, many herbalists look to lavender to support those suffering from the misery of sunburn. Lavender isn’t likely to stop the sun from burning you. And it may not actually heal your burn. But lavender can be a balm to help with some of the pain of a mild sunburn. Plus, the fragrance might just help relax your mind at the same time.

Lavender water misters are lovely to have on hand for these purposes. These are fairly simple to distill (and we do offer lessons in this…just read to the end to sign up for more information on that.)

But one of the quickest ways to chill out with lavender in the heat of summer is with a cooling summer herbal foot bath. That’s because this method just requires fresh water, fresh herbs & a big tub!

Here’s when & why to gather lavender clippings later in the season.

Let your lavender shrub go through a full bloom for the bees to enjoy!

After the bees have visited, lavender flowers switch to thicker seed heads that do dry, but crumble readily. Plus, by waiting, your garden will be filled with beautiful blooms longer than if you cut the flower heads pre-bee.

However after the bees are done and flowers begin to fade they stay fragrant for months.

So, on a dry day well before winter, when the lavender is also dry, shear off the flower heads. Doing this helps keep your lavender plants from rotting beneath heavy, overwintered seed heads.

Drawbacks of taking lavender cuttings after the bees are done:

If you want to bundle lavender to save, you may want to cut back your flowers earlier. That’s because the flower heads will be less crumbly and messy if you pick them while they’re still in bud. If instead you wait until later in the season, they are more likely to make a bigger mess when you dry them.

That being said, late lavender cuttings still work great for many other purposes.

Moreover, if you cut back the first flush of flowers (even late), your lavender may put on a second set of blooms for you to cut later!

Tips for trimming lavender to keep your plants healthy.

• Do not cut hard into the older wood that doesn’t have leaves. That’s because lavender often won’t sprout anew from older, leafless wood.
• Only shear off the flower stalks themselves. To do this, follow the flower stalk to the point where it emerges from the green stem.
• Finally, make your cut just above the first set of leaves at the base of the flower stalk.

Want to sew with lavender?

Sure, lavender sachets are great for your laundry drier. Plus, they definitely freshen up a sock drawer. And, seriously, who doesn’t love a calming lavender eye pillow?

But, honestly, I’m not the gal to stitch those up. In truth, I can barely sew a button back on a shirt. So, I’ve come up with lavender uses that don’t force me to do any sewing. (Including a way to make paper bag lavender sachets with lavender waste. Keep reading for that one!)

How to store late season lavender cuttings to use indoors.

1. Gather up your bundle of crumbly lavender flowery-seed heads.
2. Hold them upside down & insert them into a paper grocery bag.
3. Shake and beat the flower heads into the bag.
4. Run your gloved hands down the stems so that all the flower bits fall into the bag.
5. Store the bagged flower bits in a cool, dark, dry place.

And if you want more info on pruning and curing your lavender at various growth stages, check out our step-by-step guide here.

Uses for leftover lavender stems after you remove the flowers:

Rather than toss those lavender flower stalks and small stems in the compost, why not use them too? The reality is: the stems are loaded with fragrance!

So try these ideas to make the most of as much of your lavender cuttings as you can!

1. Place the fragrant stems in your stinky hen house. Herbs like these can help fresh up a stuffy chicken palace. And they might deter unwanted pests too.
2. Simmer the stems in a pot of water on a stove — either your wood stove in winter or just on your cooking range.
3. Cut up dried lavender stems into small pieces. Place them in a thin paper bag. Hang the bag in a closet or place it in a drawer to freshen clothes, towels or linens. (See, I promised a no sewing paper bag sachet solution!)
4. Or go ahead and put them in the compost to feed your garden in the future.

You want to make some herbalist ideas for lavender cuttings?

If you’re interested in more herbalists classes and lessons, be sure to get on our herbalist’s list here now!