Re: Hacking up a sedum??

I bought autumn joy sedums and put them in last fall, so this is their
first blooming season; 

I'm in NYS zone 5ish;

I've read The Perennial Garden and have taken the advice about pinching
plants to get them to be less tall and spindly and to get more flowers
on a shorter but fuller plant;

but I couldn't make up my mind whether I should do anything to the sedum
(and the lobelia cardinalis) the first year, so now the sedum is about l
and l/2 feet, and showing tight little buds;

well, after all the discussion here, I played scientist with one of
them, which I pinched well back;

now we'll see what that plant will do.

Isabelle Hayes

ECPep@aol.com wrote:
> 
> In a message dated 7/10/00 12:43:20 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
> Lowery@zeonchemicals.com writes:
> 
> << Careful on telling people to cut back sedums and mums.  It really depends
>  on their stage of development and where your garden is.  If I cut mine back
>  now, I'll be left with no flowers.  My mums are in bud and my 'Autumn Joy's
>  flower heads are just now beginning to show a little pink.  I pinched mine
>  back in the latter part of May/first week in June.  And this was just
>  strategic pinching ala Tracy's book on perennials. >>
> 
> I recall the common garden advice was to pinch and pinch again mums until the
> 4th of July.  That obviously does not work all around the country.  Tall
> sedums can be shortened in other ways.  You can pull the clump out of the
> ground as it emerges and replant it.  That will give you a shorter, stockier
> plant.  You can divide a clump and replant in sandy, gravelly soil, full sun
> and refrain from fertilizing.  Leaner soil will give you a tighter plant.
> it is probably not a good idea to fertilize tall sedums. Any floppy plant can
> be encircled in a wire cage that you can make yourself.
> 
> You buy green poly covered wire fencing with about four inch squares.  You
> cut sections and form into a circle in the size desired.  They are joined
> with the cut open end or twistems or anyway you like.  They are placed over
> plants in the early spring and disappear as the plant grows tall in summer.
> Some salvias and nepetas will flop no matter what you do.  This is easy and
> cheap.
> 
> Mums that are not nursery grown for gardeners are shortened with hormonal
> sprays applied throughout the growing season.  Also asters.  If you buy a
> fifteen inch fall aster and it is three feet next year, do not be surprised.
> Plants in flower can also have a fixative sprayed on in the nursery to retain
> their petals.  Easier to keep looking good and easier then to sell.
> 
> We do not pinch mums in this cold zone being happy that they survive.
> 
> Claire Peplowski
> East Nassau, NY z4
> 
> 
> 
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