Cutting Back or Holding Back?

Cutting back on sweets? A healthy choice. Cutting back on self-doubt? Absolutely. Cutting back your gone-by perennial plants? Well, you might want to wait.

In these latest days of spring, I have a great desire to pull out the shears and take to my peonies. They’re a tried-and-true perennial in my garden, and because I avoid disturbing them—peonies don’t like to be moved—they do well for me each year. But post-bloom, they seem to do little more than take up space in an already-crowded garden bed. Their spent blooms get brown, turn soggy, and droop… not the “look” I’m going for, by any means. This causes me to have a great desire to cut everything right down, close to the crown of the plants. Should I? May I? Well, not if I want nice blooms to appear next year.

Peonies and many other perennial plants can and should be deadheaded, as there is no reason to keep stems that hold spent blooms. But foliage must be maintained so that the plant has a full summer of sun-drenching, resulting in sufficient photosynthesis. This summer work on the part of the plant translates to plant strength, root strength, good blooming capacity for the upcoming year… and it means that there is a need to wait.

With peonies, the wait is actually quite intense and not very pretty. I find that my peony foliage looks good and green for a while but ultimately turns mildewy gray, and cutting the foliage at a very late point in the season (very end of summer) can mean a noseful of musty unpleasantness. But this bit of hardship always seems worth it when the spherical buds first show themselves in spring. The sacrifice—lost space in the garden, and some less-than-beautiful foliage for a time—is worth it when flowering season returns, and this perennial is back, in its glory.

Daffodils and other bulb-based plants that can perennialize require the same leave-it-alone methodology as the peonies do, though the wait can be a little less. With those perennial plants, it is enough to wait for the foliage to turn golden; then, a cut-back is advisable. Sometimes gardeners bundle the daffodil foliage and “hide it” among other plants. But the key is to let the greenery catch enough rays to photosynthesize. Over-bundling and tidying up too much can harm your plants’ ability to do this and to build energy stores that will allow them to flower beautifully next spring.

With the popular perennial evergreen shrub, the rhododendron, it is the reverse. With rhodies, quick post-bloom cutting is actually the way to go. As soon as your rhododendrons’ flowers have faded, petals falling to the ground below, you can prune the foliage in time to get things shaped up before your shrubs set buds for next year. In this case, waiting is ill-advised. And it is the same for coreopsis plants (with most varieties returning year after year in zones 3-9) which can be pruned right after they have first bloomed. These perennial beauties can handle a good cutting back, and they may even fare better because of it, sending up new foliage growth and blooms.

I guess the key is for all of us gardeners to realize that no one way of operating will serve us best throughout the garden. Plants are different. Early trims and clean-ups after a perennial plant has flowered can make us feel proactive and tidy. But will that work serve us well next spring, next summer? It depends on the plant.

With Internet access so much a part of each of our lives today, I feel as though there is no reason to worry about what to trim, and when. Know that you can basically always cut the stems that hold spent blooms. This tidying up is fine, and actually recommended across the board, across the garden. But if you have set your sights on removing some foliage, take your phone or other handheld device and do some quick research. You don’t want your well-intentioned efforts to leave you wanting for flowers next year.

Thinking of cutting back? Hold back, just until you’re able to research the perennial plant in question. You’ll be glad you did.