Pruning tips?

[PunkRotten]

Hi,


Could anyone share some pruning tips with me? Like what needs to be pruned, when it needs to be done, and how to do it too. Here is a list of some things I am growing:



Lavender (I hear you should prune after it flowers?)

Sage (Does it need a Spring pruning?)

Rosemary (Does it need a Spring pruning?)

Peppers (I am planning on growing as perennials do I need to prune them at any time?)

Goji Berry Tree (I know they do need pruning, just don't know when exactly and how much)


Cilantro and Parsley (Would pruning encourage bushiness like Basil?)


Yarrow

Mint


Thanks

[Marlingardener]

I have experience with only a few of the plants you mention, but here is what I do:
Rosemary--I "prune" by harvesting it for use. The bush will get quite large and woody at the base if you don't trim it occasionally, but the timing of the trimming doesn't really matter. I just cut off what I need, and the rosemary bushes out just below the cut.
Sage will get tall and straggly, so it's best to keep it trimmed at 1' or so. Again, most of my "pruning" is harvesting, and I cut where new growth (tiny leaves) are showing. The sage will put out new stems from there. I harvest in late spring, and again in late summer.
Parsley grows from the center, so harvest the outer leaves and let the center ones grow to a useable size. No pruning here--parsley naturally has more of a fountain shape than a bush shape.
Lavender flower stems can be harvested and dried. I suppose that would be called pruning if you harvest the stems, not just the flowers.

[CharlieBear]

Mint you can cut it back to within 2" of the ground after the season and generally you can't kill the thing after it is at least 2 years old. Generally people just harvest it by cutting the "stalks" to about 2 inches from the ground and remove the leaves for use. If you do it right along, there won't be much to prune.
Lavender, generally you take off 1/3 to 1/2 of the growth every year after it blooms to keep the plant from getting woody, that will keep it "younger" longer and promote more new growth.
Peppers, you would prune those only to encourage new growth and keep them in check, but not the first year. Generally people seem to have luck with taking about 1/3 of the growth off of each "branch" about 1-2 weeks before you would set out new plants. Someone else may have more experience with peppers, and if they do, go with what has worked for them.
Yarrow, generally I cut the flowers all off to use them down to about 3" above the ground, that seems to work well.
Gogi, prune to let air in so crossing branches, take one out and those growing towards the center, would be my guess, just like all other fruiting plants.

[PunkRotten]

My sage and rosemary are small. I am assuming they are in their first year. Rosemary has about 2 main stems about 8 inches high and around the bottom it is starting to get a little bushy. And the sage is about 6 inches high and about the same wide. Should I wait till after this year to start pruning them?

[rainbowgardener]

Yes, leave them alone for now...