Russian sage pruning is essential if you don’t want it grows wild and ruin your garden. Known for its lavender-like flowers, Russian sage is widely known as shrubs that has mosquito-repellent feature. It is also common to be used as a cooking ingredient. Well, it is easy to grow in warmth, and can tolerate soils like clay and average soils. However, you have to keep the irrigation to be good. The plant needs full sun to bloom flowers and strong stems.
To prune a woody Russian sage, you need pruning shears or hedge shears if you have a bigger shrub. There is also another option such as precision pruning snips to trim smaller branches. For the pruning techniques, there are three basic techniques to follow.
1. Trim it all the way down
This choice can be chosen if your Russian sage hasn’t been pruned before and/or is having too much woody, overgrown bush. You can trim your sage all the way down and make it as short as possible. This technique will help to regenerate the plant, hence making it easier to grow bushier. This technique can be applied at any time you want and by pruning your Russian sage with this technique, the plant will not be hurt. It’s best to trim the plant during early spring while the plant is still preparing for rapid growth.
2. Shape-prune it
With your already grown Russian sage, your Russian sage plants can be cut following a certain style. To avoid overgrowing it, you should be a little bit more aggressive and cut it until it is around 30 cm high.
3. Wait for the new growth
Russian sage pruning can also be done after there is a sign of small growth. To start pruning, you have to locate the growth first. Find the place where new leaves have emerged. Normally, these kinds of leaves can be found towards the bottom of the stem. Then, by using your pruning shears, snip the stem right above the spot of those new foliage. For the finishing, clean the plant from any dead branches by cutting them off to the ground.
Those are three techniques to keep the Russian sage plant from overgrowing. During winter, your Russian sage can be all wooden stems, building up huge facade-like bush. Keep in mind your Russian sage pruning can be done at any time, but it’s best to do it during winter or early spring.
