From my perspective as a Salvia officinalis plant, I am a woody-stemmed perennial. My natural inclination is to become a bit leggy and woody at the base, especially if left to my own devices. This is because my primary goal is to grow upwards towards the sun, focusing my energy on a few main stems. Without your intervention, the lower leaves may become shaded and drop off, and I will put all my effort into vertical growth, becoming sparse and less productive. To become the bushy, lush plant you desire, I need you to understand this tendency and work with it, not against it. Pruning signals to me to redirect my energy from a single upward point to multiple lateral points, creating a fuller form.
My life cycle dictates the optimal times for you to prune me. The most significant pruning should be done in early spring, just as I am emerging from my winter dormancy. At this time, you can see the new, tiny green buds swelling on my stems. This is my way of telling you I am ready to burst into growth. Cutting me back at this precise moment means I will direct all my stored energy into these new buds, resulting in a vigorous and bushy explosion of new stems and leaves. You can also give me a lighter, shaping prune after my main flowering period in summer. Avoid any major pruning in late fall or winter, as my growth has slowed and I will struggle to heal the cuts, leaving me vulnerable to frost damage and disease.
Where you make your cut is a critical signal to me. Your goal is to encourage branching from lower nodes. Please always use sharp, clean shears to make clean cuts that I can heal quickly. Never just randomly chop off my top leaves. Instead, look for a pair of leaves or a visible node (a bump on the stem where leaves emerge). Make your cut just above this point. This action removes the apical meristem—the dominant bud at the tip of the stem that produces a hormone suppressing the growth of lower buds. By removing it, you break this hormonal dominance. I interpret this as a signal to activate the dormant buds lower down on the stem, causing two or more new branches to grow from that single point, instantly making me bushier.
It is crucial that you do not cut back into the old, brown, and completely woody parts of my stems. These older sections have a much harder time producing new green growth. If you cut into this old wood, I may not be able to generate new shoots from that point, potentially leaving a bare spot or even causing die-back. Always focus your pruning on the newer, green, and semi-woody growth. Furthermore, your regular harvesting of my leaves throughout the growing season is, in itself, a form of pruning. Each time you pinch or snip a stem tip for kitchen use, you are performing the same action—removing my apical bud and encouraging me to become denser and more productive for you.
