Sage (Salvia officinalis) is not a long-lived perennial. It gets more lanky and woody in its old-age (3-5 years). If you prune it hard, I do not expect it to bounce back or even live. But perhaps you can do some layering to create new plants or collect some seed this summer to start new plants. It is easy to grow sage from seed.

FataMorgana

Thanks for the info, FataMorgana. I didn't realize they were so short-lived. I'll start some new cuttings and try to collect seed. The one sage makes some prolific purple flowers but the other has never bloomed. (Most of my family doesn't like sage so its mostly for show and for friends).

Oh, fatamorgana, thanks for that! I was wondering if either last summer's hideous heat or my incompetence had killed my 6 sage plants last summer. When I hear "perennial" my brain says "forever," which obviously isn't the case! I'm starting from seed again this year, and now I know that I should probably start 2 plants each year for 3 or 4 years, so I'll always have a good supply of sage. We just LOVE the stuff and have been bereft since the summer. Never again!

I had five sage plants that were in their second year last summer. They overwintered OK. In late Feb., I cut three of them back by about 1/3 growth, and two of them which were getting a little leggy and woody, I cut back hard, to about 5" height. It was an experiment on my part since I had read that Sage does not handle severe pruning. Well, one is not coming back, and the other is beautiful. Full of new growth and healthy. The ones that were lightly pruned are fine. I plan to plant more seeds soon to start new plants.