Download Perennial Garden Maintenance

Page 1 of 5
Perennial Garden Maintenance
Garden Expo
Alliant Energy Center, Madison Wisconsin
February 2014
Paul S Drobot
Perennial gardens are in a dynamic flux of colors and form, which results in a dynamic
maintenance program.
 Things to do to make your maintenance easier
o Modify the soil prior to planting with organic matter
o Make sure the garden is weed free, especially of roots and rhizomes of perennial
weeds
o Use lower maintenance plants
1. Avoid aggressive spreaders or reseeders
2. Plants that need staking
3. Plants with disease and insect problems
4. Marginal plants
o Proper spacing
o Good design
 Maintenance skills
o Dead heading – removal of spent blooms
1. The plants look nicer
2. Stops the plants from producing seeds
 This will help slow down reseeding
 After flowering , plants start to produce seeds, seed production
requires energy which could be used for plant growth
3. May promote more flowers
o Cutting back almost to the ground or to the basal rosette of leaves
1. Many perennials get shaggy looking especially after bloom, cutting back
will promote a flush of fresh growth and some rebloom
2. Plants like Salvia May Night, some Penstemon, Achillea (Yarrow)
millefolium types, Veronica, Aquilegia (Columbine), etc. all benefit from
cutting back
o Pruning
1. Many perennials will get too large and need some weight removed from
the branches to avoid breaking of stems or plant
2. Cleaning up of dead branches and foliage
o Pinching
1. Many late blooming perennials will get too large and floppy by the time
they bloom
2. Removing 10-50% of the plant will keep them short and increase the
number of flowers
Page 2 of 5
3. Plants such as tall Asters, Garden Mums, etc. need to be pinched
o Weeding
1. Pulling the top off a tap root forming weed will just delay its growth, dig
out as much of the root as possible
2. Remove as much of the running stems or roots
3. Don’t let the weeds go to seed
o Dividing
1. Division of plants will help rejuvenate them
2. Many die in the center
3. Helps control the spread
4. Plants such as Iris, Peony, Poppy, etc. are best done in the late summer
or fall
5. Can be done almost any time but sometimes are better and easier than
others
6. Reference #2 and #3 under transplanting for timing
7. The exception is the late summer fall division plants such as Poppy, Iris,
Daylily, Peony, etc.
o Transplanting
1. Can be done almost any time but sometimes are better and easier than
others
2. Best times
 when new growth has just started
 after flowering and foliage can be cut back
 late summer to fall for Peony, Daylily, Poppy, Iris
3. Not as good times
 Plant has lots of new soft growth
 To late in the year and plant won’t have time to root in
 When plant is flowering
4. Dig as much of the plant root as you can handle
5. Plant at the proper level
6. A little TLC goes along ways in helping the transplant survive
o Cut and let lie
1. This is a technique I started using about 6-8 years ago
2. Works best when the gardener or home owner doesn’t mind the ground
being covered with dead plant material or this area is out of site
3. It cuts down on the work load since the dead plant material doesn’t need
to be hauled away, and it adds organic matter
4. The basic process is to start at the top and cut the plant into many small
pieces, letting them fall to the ground to lay and rot
 Hedge shears either hand , electric or gas help speed up the job
 Hand pruning shears take a bit longer but works
5. Examples where I do this process
 A bed of Astillbe Superba and Purple Candles, I take a hedge
shears and cut them down, starting from the top to the bottom,
Page 3 of 5






 Tools
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
into small pieces (garden I maintain)
A large bed of Hosta and Ferns (garden I maintain)
A large bed of ferns (garden I maintain)
A bed of large Eupatorium and Aruncus (personal garden)
A large bed of Shasta Daisy Becky (personal garden)
5-6 Hydrangea Annabella grown together (personal garden)
A bed of Rudbeckia Sweet Cone Flower (garden I maintain)
Garden trowels
Asparagus knife aka dandelion digger
Push and pull hoes
Pruning shears
Garden scissors
Hedge shears
Small tillers
Garden Maintenance Schedule
 APRIL through early MAY
When the soil is dry enough start cleaning the garden.
Remove any heavy layers of dead leaves or winter cover mulch. Waiting too long to do
this can cause etiolated growth (weak stretching)
Should have some bulbs blooming
Hoe or rake around the plants to break up the soil. Be careful not to cut off the tops
of plants that have not emerged.
Additional organic matter can be added at this time or any time during the growing
season
Fertilize the plants
Transplanting and division can be started as soon as new growth appears
Some of your early perennials should be blooming
 MAY
Start the regular garden upkeep routine. These will be carried out through the entire
growing season.
1.
Dead heading
2.
Weeding
3.
Cutting back
4.
Division
Still time to easily transplant perennials
Page 4 of 5
Can be fertilized during this month
 END OF MAY
When the soil has warmed up it can be mulched
Pinch all shoots of the fall mums and some of the taller Asters
 EARLY JUNE
By this time some plants may need deadheading
Regular garden up-keep
 END OF JUNE
Last pinch of the fall blooming mums
Some plants may start to get shabby at this time and need to be cut back
 JULY
Regular garden-upkeep
If needed, irrigate
 AUGUST
Regular garden-upkeep
There could be many plants that need to be cut back
Good time to transplant Iris and Daylily
Fertilize again mid to end of August through early September
 SEPTEMBER
Regular garden-upkeep
Garden can be fertilized, since perennials will start putting on a lot of growth
Start the fall cleanup process. This should be a continuous process, not just a one shot
deal.
 MID SEPTEMBER
Good time to start thinking about transplanting and dividing Peony
 OCTOBER
Continue fall clean up and garden up keep
 NOVEMBER
Continue and start to finish fall clean up
 MID TO END OF NOVEMBER
Fall clean up should be close to complete
Still may have some color from the late blooming mums
 END OF NOVEMBER TO MID DECEMBER
By Turkey Day fall clean up should be complete
When the ground is frozen winter cover mulch can be applied if needed
Slides will be used to illustrate some of the processes and to demonstrate how
to care for some different perennials
Page 5 of 5
Speaker
Paul S Drobot
Retired Horticulture Instructor Franklin High School, Franklin Wisconsin
Perennial Landscapes (Landscape Business)
Plants To Grow (www.plantstogrow.com) informational web site with over13,000 photographs
Plant Stock Photos (www.plantstockphotos.com) sale of plant pictures with over 9,500
photographs
Photoshop instructor for McPherson College, Kansas
Horticulturist for Prospect Hill Garden Center, New Berlin Wisconsin
Habitat for Humanity “Decon Master”
Lecturer on horticulture subjects
Photographer