Our 2019 garden season is pretty much finished, and now as we contemplate cleaning up perennial flowerbeds and the landscape, we have to decide what to cut and what not to cut.
I am not a fan of clear-cutting the perennial garden in the fall. Plants that hold their form add interest to the winter landscape. Additionally, those stems catch snow, which helps insulate the crown of the plant, preventing freeze/thaw cycles that can damage perennials. If some of your plants seemed plagued by fungal diseases — peony and black-eyed Susan foliage with black spots, mildew on phlox, etc. — removing that foliage in the fall helps reduce the likelihood of a repeat infection in 2020.
For shrubs in the landscape, do not prune lilacs, mock orange, weigela, bridal wreath, spirea, forsythia, rhododendron and azaleas. These shrubs have the flower buds for next spring’s display on the tips of each branch, so any fall OR spring pruning removes potential flowers. These shrubs get pruned immediately after they have finished blooming. The new growth that emerges after pruning matures during the summer and the shrub will bloom the next season.
For the vegetable garden, be sure you make a map of where you planted what this year so you can rotate your crops next year. That may seem pretty elemental, but I find it is hard to remember next spring. Also, make a note of what variety of vegetable you planted. For example, there are hundreds of tomato varieties, so if you planted a good one, or if you planted a not-so-good one, you will know what to look for next year. The same goes for cucumbers; some varieties get bitter in the heat of summer and others stay sweet. The work is the same so why not get the best produce for your effort.
Back in September I wrote about day length being the reason a poinsettia blooms at Christmas. If you followed my advice about no auxiliary light, your plant should be starting to show some red color developing.
Bonnema is a gardening enthusiast and former greenhouse owner. He can be reached at flowergb@iw.net.