Re: pruning salvias

Salvias are a very diverse genus, so it is, of course, impossible to 
generalize.  I use some 'rules of thumb' but experimentation with specific 
types is needed to understand how they might respond.

First of all, the best time to prune almost any plant is while they are in 
active growth.  The only exception might be those plants which go dormant 
naturally, requiring their dead top grown to be cut down to tidy them 
up.  But in general, from the plant's point of view, this can also be left 
until the plant start to regrow from the base (though there is more of a 
chance that accidental damage might be inflicted on delicate new shoots).

For persistently woody, shrubby salvias, the less you prune the 
better.  Occasionally a species will respond to an occasional hard pruning 
(I've had some success with the California native, S. leucophylla), but 
most prefer only tip pruning.  Right now, with new growth just starting, 
some 'tip pinching' might help make leggy shrubs more dense.  Many of these 
are just coming out of their summer dormancy and are looking their worst - 
it just goes with the territory.  Distraction to other parts of the garden 
is best for this - i.e. don't plant fall showy plants adjacent to these as 
you will focus more on their sad state.  Or group small fall-blooming bulbs 
at their bases so that this natural 'thinning' seems to have more of a 
purpose.  A lot of shrubby plant which are surging into growth now will be 
in better shape in during their spring flowering if they are cleaned up a 
bit and lightly pruned for best shape.  Left alone, these might become too 
floppy or poorly shaped right when they are putting on flowers - a poor 
time to consider pruning.  This would be a good approach for Nan's S. greggiis.

Tender or sub-tropical salvias are starting to look really bad right 
now.  They will not be prominent during the winter - care should be take to 
ensure they get through in as good shape as they can, and leaving some 
additional wood on them can help provide more 'options' during a spring 
surge of growth.

Some species, such as S. leucantha, are already putting on a burst of fall 
growth in for of new shoots from the base of the plant.  Old stems shoulf 
be cut down to be replaced by these new ones, otherwise you'll get a poor 
flowering and a straggly plant.  In our area, these old stems often still 
have considerable flowers on them, even in November, but one needs to be 
ruthless and clear them away or the whole plant will suffer next year.  S. 
'Waverly' and S. chiapensis are similar - both in needing this cleanup and 
in still having some bloom - they respond to this fall maintenance as well.

The best way to do right by your plants is to lean how they grow for you, 
in your area.  Even in the SF Bay Area, salvias often grow in a variety of 
different ways in our diverse microclimates and soils types.

Regards,
Sean O.


h o r t u l u s   a p t u s     -    'a garden suited to its purpose'
Sean A. O'Hara        fax (707) 667-1173     sean.ohara@groupmail.com
710 Jean Street, Oakland, CA 94610-1459, U.S.A.
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