When To Cut Back Perennials

Their success relies on the cut stems not being too young, yet also not too old when the cutting is taken. In this article, we will discuss testing semi-hardwood cuttings by doing a simple snap test.for several reasons.

At this point, you can feed the young plant, using a diluted water-soluble fertilizer.Move the plant outdoors when it is mature enough to tolerate outdoor heat and cold – usually a couple of growing seasons.

It isn't hard, but there are a few things you need to know. Don't place the cuttings in direct sunlight where heat will build up under the plastic.Check from time to time to make sure the mix is still moist.

Honey for cuttings has been found effective using a number of potting mediums, including soil, water and even rockwool.For soil-based mediums, it's easiest to poke a hole for each cutting with a pencil (or your finger) for insertion.

The new planting should be placed in a sunny location where it will receive filtered light.While waiting for new root growth, be sure to keep the stem cutting moist and watch for new leaves to form.

This will allow similar plants to be grouped together for ease of care.You will also want to look at mature size, bloom type and color. Do the blooms ‘weep' like the racemes of wisteria or do they stand upright?

Cutting back euphorbia also has the added benefit of making the next season's growth and blooming even more prolific.Wash the blades of your pruning tools in warm, soapy water before cutting back the euphorbia to avoid spreading bacteria or fungus from...

Leaving the dead material in the area increases the risk of both pests and disease conditions. Watch for the second flowering session to start within three to four weeks. Minimize the risk of disease and enhance the appearance of a lobelia plant by trimming...

Catmints often stop blooming and turn floppy in midsummer, but you can shear them to encourage another flush of flowers.YOSHIHARU NUGA/a.collectionRF/amana images/Getty ImagesCheck plants before pruning or cutting for signs of powdery mildew, such as...

Plants started in the spring will likely begin to appearby the end of the season even in proper growing conditions. Frost damage can be diagnosed by withered leaves and/or stems with dark brown or black spots.

Sanitize the cutting blades of garden tools before each use by wiping with a clean rag soaked in isopropyl alcohol. Rabbits also chow down on hosta leaves -- look for droppings -- as well as deer, which leave larger droppings and less hosta.

Trimming will not only help encourage the next season's blooms, but will keep the plant itself healthy and attractive.Kalanchoe plants should be cut back when they are done blooming.Wait until late spring, or after the kalanchoe is done blooming.

For the avid gardener, perhaps more precisely, the plant addict, getting back to our roots is common sense. Gardeners collected seeds, divided roots, dug and separated bulbs and took cuttings from the plants growing in their yard.

Alternatively, scrape off the outer layer of surface tissue to expose the conducting tissue where the new roots form.Now that the cuttings are ready, dip the lower end in a rooting hormone.

The yellow yarrow kept its growth habit but now tends to lean to catch some sun. One way to address this issue is to interplant your yarrow with annuals such as zinnias of the same height so that the bed stays colorful all summer.There is just something...

An good example of a plant not to pinch is a peony or any plant with blade-like foliage, such as iris, daylilies, red hot pokers, Asiatic and Oriental lilies , Agave and ornamental grasses.

Sometimes it's almost too showy -- the non-native plant is categorized as invasive in many areas, including parts of California. If you don't have the tools to cut it all the way down, remove the dead foliage from the plant by combing it.

Care should be taken to make sure that each one is submerged by at least a couple of inches. By coloring the water, we can see how it moves upward to the blooms.The technical term for water moving out through the leaves and flowers is called transpiration,...

In the same time, I started applying a psychological method: I saved the bottles which Minnie kept on digging out and buried them in different places of my garden, to distract her from the real covered cuttings.

Keep the pot sheltered and shaded, watering often enough to keep the soil from getting dry. Gently loosen the soil around the base of the plant, and pull it up. Even if your plant is alive after all, it's still been "mostly dead" for a while.

Trailing Antique Rose and Trailing Red, uh, trail, but the others are more upright. Some which won't give up in the heat, like zinnias, and some which will act more like pansies, ceasing to bloom in the hottest part of the summer but reviving with the...

Gardeners take note: If you're not keeping up with the Perennial Plant Association's Perennial of the Year winners, you're missing out on a tremendous resource that lets you know the best plants to have in your garden.

Start with one plant, grow it for a year or two, divide it, and voila, you have three or more of the same plant. Here's my refreshed Ox-eye daisy, with room to spread. ( I hope you got that plant cheap after reading my earlier article, More Plants for...

(Use caution withThere's another good reason to pop a plant out of the pot and take a look, especially if you have let your plants take a summer vacation outside. Once you start shuffling plants, and making little ones from big ones and vice-versa, you...

Seed production prevents the plants from producing a second set of blooms later in the season. Cut the stems off ¼ inch above the topmost leaf. Cutting back the black-eyed Susans can reward you with blooms throughout the growing season.Black-eyed Susans...

However, it is a high performer in the sandy soil of my hot, humid part of the world. In warm desert regions where it remains evergreen, it tends to be a woody shrub. It is deer resistant and heat and drought tolerant.

I have found this advice to be very helpful, even when I chose not to purchase the plants from the vendor who recommends a particular grouping. The colors follow the general scheme of many beds in our gardens: yellow/gold and pink/lavender/purple.This...