Are you in a hurry? How big are the plants and how small do you want them to be? Three years ago I took over maintaining a local org. demonstration herb garden and it had germander (plus other herbs) that were neglected. I started in early spring before new growth started by pruning out the old wood (which is the thickest woodie parts of the plant) from the inside middle and trimming back the height about a 1/3. Each year since I gradually prune out more old wood and trim it back a little more, it is doing beautiful and flowering too. The germander is interplanted with munstead lavender which also has been pruned back over the years. After the first year I did loose some, but they were easily replaced and now I can't tell the difference between the old and new plants. Hope this answers your question.

Thanks for your reply, Karen. The plants are 1.5-2' high and wide. The weather is beginning to break so I'm planning on pruning it back this weekend. I'd like to keep it at about 1' wide/high, but would prefer to shape it all at once instead of reinvigorating it over several seasons. Pruning the top won't take it back by more than 1/3--it's the sides that are going to show the wood because of how it flops over.

I generally prune mine back about 8-10" from the ground every year at this time. They green up and look beautiful. Their about 7 years old.

Rachel, how did the pruning go? Did the hardwood green up again?

Well, these plants were really overgrown, but I pruned them to shape at about 12" high. At the time they were still mostly brown sticks (spring hadn't sprung yet) so I couldn't tell easily what was dead wood. The plants greened up, for the most part. There was some dead wood in the middle and some of the edges. I clipped that out in early summer and for the most part the hedges look alright. They will need more pruning again next year I think in order to be better revitalized.

There were a few Germander plants that had been put in spots as accents. They were in a separate location from the hedge. They were very leggy and scraggly, in a shady, damp, place and they didn't make it through the pruning. I might have cut off too much.