Pruning Your Perennial Plants for Spring
Some plants will not do well come spring if you wait and prune them too late in the season, especially your perennials. Pruning your plants in the spring will not only help guarantee a beautiful garden but you can also use the debris to make compost for later use.
Plants that are diseased or infected should have been pruned back in the fall and should never be used in your compost bins or piles. Leaving the old growth as a marker for the new growth as it starts to appear on your perennials will help you to determine exactly where to start pruning back on plants that emerge later in the spring season.
Depending on what does or does not work best for you depend primarily on what you have or had planted. Many perennials are better off when left alone and not pruned at all until spring when the new growth starts to appear.
If your garden has woody perennial flowers and plants such as Artemisia or Lavender, these types of plants will need to be cut back each spring because they will only bloom on new branches. A good spring pruning will limit the damage of the plant from the winter and will also encourage the flowering of new branches. Always wait until the danger of a late frost has passed before you begin any type of pruning on any plant.
As your plants start to come out, fertilize them with a slow releasing fertilizer after you have pruned them, this will help develop new growth. Adding a new fresh layer of mulch to them will also cut down on the growth of new weeds. In early summer remember to prune them back after the first flowering to encourage more blooms.
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