SPRING CLEANING: Plant Clean-up

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Let the show begin!

Let the show begin!

So the clean-up of our yards continues, and to date we have focused on bed clean-up, but another important part of Spring clean-up is tidying up the plants. (As a side note, I usually tend to the plants at the same time as the beds, but with my posts already being SO long-winded, I figured that I would divide these tasks into two more manageable posts! Bear with me- I’m still learning this whole ‘blog’ thing!)

OK. Back to the plants…

So you think you are worn out from the winter? Take a look at your surrounding landscape… I think our plants have the tougher end of the deal! At this time of year many of them could use a little TLC. In general, when I say ‘tidying up plants’, there are a few tasks I am referring to:

  • cutting back perennials that were left standing over the winter

  • removing ‘sad’ looking foliage on evergreen/semi-evergreen perennials

  • doing Spring pruning on appropriate plants

  • doing structural pruning on trees and shrubs while the branches are bare (with no leaves on the branches, it makes it very easy to see any issues with the branching framework of trees/shrubs, it also makes it easy to see other issues such as diseased tissue that can be pruned out)

For this post, I am going to focus on perennials (the first two points above).

CUTTING BACK PERENNIALS

Although I am a gardener, I have a confession to make- I LOVE THE SNOW! Before you stop reading, let me make my case for winter…

Not only does the cold weather open up a wide variety of recreational opportunities but it can also be a magical time in the garden. The touch of sparkling frost coating leaves or the dusting of snow on seed pods is just MAGIC! So with that in mind, anything that keeps some sort of structure into the winter months I will leave standing, with the plan to cut it back in the Spring- why would I want to cheat myself of this often overlooked season in the garden? Not to mention, the seed heads of many perennials, when left standing, can provide habitat value in the form of food for birds. All-in-all it’s a win-win situation!

Now that Spring has arrived, I must face these postponed tasks and cut back these plants to make way for new growth.

One common type of landscape plant that requires a tidy-up at this time of year (even if it was cut back in the fall) are ornamental grasses. Time to chop ‘em down, clean ‘em out, and wait for the first hint of green to emerge. You can use hedge shears or secateurs but regardless of your tool of choice, make the clump look LEVEL or domed (in a Spring garden, you want to maximize ‘tidy’ wherever you can since there is nowhere that messy plants can hide in a bare landscape!). As a very general guideline, I cut larger grasses down to a height of about 20-30 cm and smaller grasses to a height of 5-10 cm. Once cut down, I will then rake out the clumps with my fingers to remove debris and loose stalks within the clump. This final step really ‘ups’ the tidiness factor and frees up the plant for new growth.

Cutting down of an ornamental grass to make way for new growth. Not only was the grass cut down, but the clump was ‘raked-through’ by hand to remove any other debris to really ‘clean-up’ and ‘free’ the clump!

Cutting down of an ornamental grass to make way for new growth. Not only was the grass cut down, but the clump was ‘raked-through’ by hand to remove any other debris to really ‘clean-up’ and ‘free’ the clump!

Many other perennials require pruning in the Spring; some of the more common ones in the landscape include:

  • Anemone spp. (Anemone)

  • Chrysanthemum spp. (Chrysanthemum)

  • Coreopsis spp. (Tickseed)

  • Echinacea spp. and Rudbeckia spp. (Coneflowers)

  • Salvia spp. (Sage)

  • Sedum spp. (Stonecrop)

Plants that I keep up over the winter (clockwise from top left): Salvia spp., Echinacea spp., Chrysanthemum spp. and Rudbeckia spp.

Plants that I keep up over the winter (clockwise from top left): Salvia spp., Echinacea spp., Chrysanthemum spp. and Rudbeckia spp.

For the plants listed above, and any others that you have left standing in your garden for the winter, cut back the dried foliage and flower stalks but be careful to not cut any green leaves at the base of the plants. These leaves are the ones that will grow for this current gardening season.

From left to right: A small clump of Sedum sp. with flower stalks that were left upright for winter interest. The same clump with stalks cut down to the base of the new growth and other garden debris removed from around the plant.

From left to right: A small clump of Sedum sp. with flower stalks that were left upright for winter interest. The same clump with stalks cut down to the base of the new growth and other garden debris removed from around the plant.

REMOVING ‘SAD’ LOOKING FOLIAGE ON EVERGREEN/SEMI-EVERGREEN PERENNIALS

Some perennials remain evergreen or semi-evergreen over the winter months. If a perennial is not completely browned and dried up in the Spring, chances are you are dealing with a perennial in one of these categories. In this case, it is only the ‘sad’ looking foliage that requires attention. Trim off the dead leaves (like those in the Bergenia patch shown below).

Left to right: Before and after photos of a Bergenia patch. It may be difficult to see, but the nearly black leaves have been cut off to tidy up the plants (and to eliminate the presence of soggy rotting leaves from within the plants- a magnet for s…

Left to right: Before and after photos of a Bergenia patch. It may be difficult to see, but the nearly black leaves have been cut off to tidy up the plants (and to eliminate the presence of soggy rotting leaves from within the plants- a magnet for slugs and promoter of disease issues!)

And there you have it! Another avenue that you can take to further tidy your Spring garden and prep it for the season ahead. Now sit back, grab your ‘bevie’ of choice and watch ‘garden life’ unfold!