Are you a garden hygienist?
In my experience , most nurseryman fall into two camps when it come in to fall tidiness : complete vindicated - out merchants that leave nothing out of place ; or the more relaxed , let - it - all - rotting - down - naturally brigade . Me ? I fall somewhere in the middle . I ’ll tidy if there ’s a in effect cause for it , but lead well alone if it ’s just offending my natural mother wit of ordering . Take the herbaceous mete , for example . It ’s still full of color from the asters and sedum , rudbeckias and heleniums , but most of the other early unfolding plant are past their best and could be clear away . But take a closer flavor . See how seemingly dead silhouettes take on a fresh lease of life in the washy light on early October mornings as the mists start to clear , or when bathe in the dearest - glow of a fine autumn eve . Bear in nous they ’ll await even more dramatic after a hoar frost in the depths of wintertime . Watch and listen , too , how the plumes of ornamental green goddess and other airy source heads rustle and move in sussurating synchronism as they trace the progress of every child’s play .
Then take whether the light foliage could be serving another useful intent . If aperennial is only borderline hardy for your garden , for representative , you might be better off leave the leafage entire to help provide wintertime security . hang leaves and stems also offer a wintertime refuge for many type of garden wildlife , while seed psyche offer food for the birds and other creatures throughout the wintertime months . Bear these thing in creative thinker too before you charge it all to the compost heap .
Some herbaceousperennial plantswill be looking the bad for article of clothing because they have been set on by a pest or disease , such as powdery mildew or the ever - present slugs and snails … they’re out in strength after the smashed summer in my borders , but where plants look good in their fading days I result them to age gracefully . Where this is not the case , unclouded stirred leaves and any pests you come across to help dilute the carry - over of the trouble next class .
Dealing with grasses
To make the most of ornamental grasses , you ask to tidy them at least once a year . This is a dim-witted task , but one often pretermit . I think it ’s partly because they are otherwise such undemanding works , but also because grasses are looking their best in autumn . They get forgotten until mid - springiness when the Modern ontogenesis is showing , making it too fiddly to edit back . Ornamental pasturage , such asFestucaandCarexneed next to no aid – simply comb through the foliage with your fingers during late wintertime or early spring to remove dead foliage and seed heads . However , if you need to shake up novel growth and better leaf color , you could trim them back in other outpouring . Other grasses , such asDeschampsia , Stipa , PennisetumandMiscanthusshould be cut back in late winter , removing last class ’s prow and deadened leaves before the fresh foliage appear . Taller varieties ofMoliniatend to collapse in late fall and so are worth tidying before Christmas , though diminished variety , such as the variegatedMolinia caerulea subsp . caerulea ‘ Variegata ’ , often rest upright throughout the winter and can be cut back before the fresh outgrowth appear in outflow . A few Gunter Wilhelm Grass can self seed prolifically . In my garden pheasant - arse locoweed wish to disperse itself around , but I ascertain a thick mulch makes it easy enough to weed out the seedlings in bounce . Vigorous grasses can spread rapidly by underground base runner and so it ’s worth ascertain at least once a class and discerp any runners with a sharp jigaboo to restrict their spread .
My A-Z checklist for choppers
Happy gardening !
