I still consider myself a new gardener even after owning my home 20 years. My garden has changed so much over the years and I have learned so much but always feel I need to learn so much more. Gardening is my favorite pastime and I love that there is so much to learn from other gardeners, garden centers and these wonderful online shops. High Country Gardens has always been a favorite of mine. This morning I was out in my garden and wondering what exactly to cut back and what to leave. Then I found this wonderful article.
Here are some tips:
Perennial Plants & Flowers
Why leave perennial plants & flowers standing over winter months? Like ornamental grasses, it's a good idea to leave perennials standing as well. These plants will often provide the same shelter to beneficial insects as the ornamental grasses.
Seed bearing perennials such as Purple Coneflower (Echinacea), Joe Pye Weed (Eupatorium), Hummingbird Mint (Agastache), Lavender (Lavandula), perennial Sunflower (Helianthus), and others, also provide valuable winter food for songbirds. Additionally, species with stiff stems and ornamental seed heads, such as Yarrow (Achillea), Purple Coneflower (Echinacea), Tall Stonecrop (Sedum), and others with flat or cone-shaped dried flowers, add to the garden's winter beauty.
Plus, perennials are more cold hardy when their stems are left standing over the winter. This is helpful for overwintering perennials that are living at the edge of their cold hardiness zones. For example, when native Sage (Salvia), Hummingbird Mint (Agastache), and Hummingbird Trumpet (Zauschneria) are planted in USDA zones 5 & 6, this will help them survive the winter cold. This is especially true for young plants (in the ground one to two growing seasons).
- Wait until mid-spring to cut back perennials.
- If perennial plants are exhibiting some summer/fall disease or are infested with injurious insects, then in these instances, these damaged plants should be cut back, and scraps thrown away in the trash, not the compost, to prevent the disease or pests from spreading.
Deciduous Shrubs & Trees
Winter is an ideal time for pruning deciduous plants (woody plants that lose their leaves), because they are dormant.
- Most fruit, flowering, and shade trees all benefit from winter pruning. This will help to remove crossed branches, gently shape their branch structure, and, with shade trees, help to maintain strong non-forked leaders.
- Don't shear the branches of spring flowering shrubs (Forsythia, Lilac, New Mexico Privet, Spirea, Flowering Quince, and others). These shrubs produce flowers on last year's wood, so removing old growth will reduce or prevent flowering. These plants should be pruned immediately after they are done blooming.
- Summer blooming shrubs like Russian Sage (Perovskia), Spirea (Caryopteris), and Butterfly Bush (Buddleia davidii and hybrids) should be left untrimmed over the winter months.
- Russian Sage should be cut back hard in mid-spring, leaving stems 12-15" tall. This should be done every spring to keep them blooming heavily.
- Blue Mist Spirea and Butterfly Bush should be cut back by 1/3 to 1/2 of their height every third year (NOT annually) to re-invigorate the shrubs and encourage blooming.
