[Deborah1]

Hello. I have a couple of rather straggly Gaura and also a large lavender bush which have all just about finished flowering. The lavender in particular flowered late this year. I know I'm supposed to cut back after flowering, but am worried that if the winter is hard they might suffer too much. Should I leave them till Spring now?
Any thoughts or advice would be welcome. Thanks

[Yorkie]

If you're at risk of frost or similar low temperatures, I might be minded to leave it.  How early does spring arrive in your part of France?

[sunshineband]

We always leave our large ancient bush in the front garden until the Spring and it flowers well every year. The ones at the plot have their  haircut around mid October and they are happy too. Much later than that and I worry about frost damage, even though we are in the south.

Gaura can be a bit pernickety, so leaving the added protection of its old stems until the new year is probably a good idea too

[Deborah1]

Thanks. I think I'm going to wait till Spring. Not so worried about the Gaura, but was concerned about the lavender getting too big and having to cut into old wood. Generally the winters here are similar to Devon/Cornwall.