Re: Fall clean-up question

Same here. I cut my iris down until they look tidy again, but not all the way down to the ground. I cut my peonies only if they looked horrible and dried up from the long, hot summer. My daylilies...I leave them alone until the first frost (other than deadheading), then I clean up all the dead stuff and sprinkle some mulch over it. Right now I can't even get to them because this HUGE Banana spider has built her HUGE web around them and now there is a HUGE egg sack hanging off the window (about the size of a quarter). She eats all the grasshoppers in that garden, so I leave her alone.

Jesse Rene' Bell
Claremore, OK
Zone 6



From: kmrsy@comcast.net
Reply-To: gardenchat@hort.net
To: gardenchat@hort.net
Subject: Re: [CHAT] Fall clean-up question
Date: Tue, 09 Sep 2003 19:54:05 +0000

Maddy,
In neIN, Z5, I don't cut peonies back (to the ground) until the are damaged by
frost. This allows them to continue photosynthesis as long as possible.
However, if they're established but looking a bit ratty, I don't think you'd
hurt them by cutting back now. Daylilies can be cut back to the point where
they still stand up straight, say 6-12 inches, when they start looking ratty.
It's a good idea to clean up any dead leaves around them, too. I've not grown
Iris for awhile, but I used to cut them back in late summer to wherever they
didn't show any leaf damage. I cut them into those cute V shapes.

Kitty

> Shouldn't peonies, irises, and daylilies be cut back in the Fall? When is a
> good time to do this, here in the Northeast?
>
> Maddy Mason
> Hudson Valley, NY zone 5/6
>
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