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Re: Time to clean the Perennial bed?


I am an organic gardener and must admit to having a somewhat wild garden at
times! I actually do very little tidying and cleaning of my garden at this
time of year. The perennial bed provides wonderful winter habitat for
beneficial insects (and larger animals and birds too) if you leave it uncut
until spring. It also can look fabulous with seed heads and stems providing
a framework for frosts. Another advantage,  I find, is that my light sandy
soil is much better protected from the damaging frosts which tend to destroy
the soil structure. However I do cut back some of my perennials in summer
which will then resprout with lovely healthy foliage which holds up better
through the winter. I think this might be the secret of public gardens -
they always tidy the plants after flowering, sometimes cutting back quite
hard to get new healthy foliage, as well as feeding the plants really well
so they can keep producing good foliage and cope with being cut back several
times in a year. I think a lot of perennials look tired at this time of year
because the soil is exhausted (and so are they!)

Alison in North Wales UK


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