Step Away From the Pruners: It’s Too Early for Fall Cleanup
The days are getting shorter, the nights are getting cooler, and suddenly everything in the garden is turning yellow.
Before you grab the pruners and start cutting everything to the ground—wait.
Your garden may look like it’s finished for the year, but many of your perennials aren’t quite done yet. Fall cleanup isn’t about making everything disappear as soon as the flowers fade. It’s about giving your plants time to finish their season and go dormant naturally.
Sometimes the best thing you can do for your garden in fall is simply leave it alone for a little while.
Wait for the First Hard Frost
A few yellow leaves or spent flowers don’t mean your perennials are ready to be cut back. The plant hasn't finished its life cycle yet.
I wait until we’ve had our first hard frost before doing most of my fall cleanup. By then, the plants are going dormant and the foliage will usually tell you when it’s ready—it will be brown, limp, or dying back naturally.
There’s no prize for having the first perfectly cleaned-up garden in the neighborhood. Let the plants finish their season first.
What Should Stay and What Should Go?
Not everything in the garden needs the same attention. Some perennials are better cut back once they’ve gone dormant: while others are worth leaving alone until spring.
My rule is pretty simple: if it’s mushy, diseased, or just plain ugly, it can go. If it still has structure, interesting seed heads, or adds something to the winter garden, I’m much more likely to leave it standing.
Should Go
Peonies
Daylilies
Hostas
Iris
Phlox
These plants don't add interest to the winter garden, so they should be removed. Getting rid of that dead foliage eliminates diseased or damaged leaves.
Should Stay
Sedum
Coneflowers
Ornamental Grasses
Hydrangeas
Black-eyed Susans
Butterfly Bushes
In the winter garden, these plants provide structure, seed heads, and a place for the birds. If you just don't know where to cut - leave it. Once new leaves begin emerging you'll know exactly where to cut.
Don't Leave Sticks!
Before you get those pruners warmed up, take a second and see where you plan on cutting. You want to be just above a leaf.
Don’t leave sticks! If you’re trimming back a plant that still has green foliage, follow the stem down to the next healthy set of leaves and make your cut just above them. Randomly cutting stems in half leaves you with a bunch of sticks sticking out of the plant—not only is it ugly, but it also makes spring clean up difficult.
If the entire plant has gone dormant and you’re cutting it back for the season, that’s different. The plant will produce completely new growth from the crown in spring.
When in Doubt, Wait
Happy planting,
Jennifer Weber
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