What do you cut back and when?
Hi guys,
I am curious to know when you all cut back your plants? Autumn or Spring?
I know that things like penstemon and Salvia are better left until spring so that the foliage adds protection from frost. But what about things like hardy geraniums, Alchemilla Mollis etc
Thanks
Craigh
I am curious to know when you all cut back your plants? Autumn or Spring?
I know that things like penstemon and Salvia are better left until spring so that the foliage adds protection from frost. But what about things like hardy geraniums, Alchemilla Mollis etc
Thanks
Craigh
0
Posts
Most folk have less to do in the garden now , than in Spring when it's ALL GO,so getting it done now means you have more time to get spring jobs done.
Foliage left in place, does , as you say , offer some protection to the "crown" of the plant, however, some plants, like alchemilla, are tough as old boots and don't need that protection, but might offer a lovely refuge for slugs and snails to overwinter.
Plants look lovely with frost on them, that's another consideration.
In short, there's no "right" or "wrong" time to do it. Most of us fit it in when it suits our own time availablity / aesthetic considerations /weather conditions etc.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
If it's prone to becoming waterlogged, cutting back now means the sun and the wind can get to the soil and help dry it out a bit , conversely , on light, sandy soils, leaving foliage in place will keep the soil covered and help retain moisture.
In Autumn I do 'regeneration' type things - I cut back plants if I'm moving or dividing them, which is something I do now. I take the seed heads off my agapanthus. I take cuttings or collect seeds from plants whose survival through winter is doubtful. I pull out weeds that are flowering and clear things like couch grass and nettles coming up in gaps between smaller plants, so I can get mulch onto the soil.
Hardy geraniums (except Rozanne), astrantia, alchemilla were all cut back in August and they all now have new leaves and a few flowers. They'll die back naturally and I will leave them alone. Rozanne keeps flowering for a few more weeks yet, so I'll leave her be and only cut back in Spring.
The soil and soil organisms are much better covered through the winter. I could cut everything back and mulch it all. But I have neither the money nor the time to mulch everything, so I let it mulch itself. There are slugs about, but I also find toads under pretty much any stone or overturned pot I pick up, so I don't feel inclined to try to deal with the slugs myself. If you walk down the rough bits of my garden at the moment, where the thistles and nettles and docks are still dominant, clouds of little birds fly up from under your feet as you go, stuffing their little faces with the seeds, to stock up for the winter. Nature hates tidiness.
The only exception is where I've cleared a new bit of soil (my garden is still more than half overgrown sheep pasture, which I'm slowly encroaching into). Because the native soil is heavy clay, I'll leave newly cleared areas open to the weather as the frost helps to break down the clay.
Well I have decided to leave cutting back most of the garden until spring. I do remember last year when it snowed thinking wouldn't it look lovely if the snow had settled on the plants rather than just flat ground.
I also lost a couple of plants due to the frost's. So as some of you said the foliage will add some protection.