A Vermont gardener’s three-year mystery revealed: vigorous spring rhubarb turning to black mush by August wasn’t disease or drought, but a single harvesting mistake repeated in May. One wrong tool choice sets off a cascade of decay that plays out silently over months.
Cutting lavender down to bare wood in spring seems logical—until every plant dies by summer. Unlike typical perennials, lavender won’t regrow from old wood, and there’s a critical two-inch margin between thriving and fatal pruning mistakes.
Lavender stems can’t regenerate from hardened wood—only green tissue can produce new growth. Pruning in April removes the very growth the plant spent winter preparing, almost guaranteeing failure. Master the two critical pruning windows and the one-third rule to keep your lavender lush and blooming.
A single month of neglect in April can sabotage strawberry yields for years. The critical 15-day window in spring determines not just this year’s harvest, but your plants’ productivity for the next three to five years through decisions about mulch timing, flower removal, and runner management.