Cutting Back Herbaceous Plants
Now is the time to start cutting your herbaceous plants for winter… maybe
Gardening is very often a repetitive process, where you find yourself repeating the same jobs each year at the same time. And for me the beginning of winter is the signal to me to start cutting back those herbaceous plants and getting the beds ready for winter. Until I’ve done this job, it doesn’t feel like I’ve put the garden to bed for winter.
Unlike woody plants. herbaceous plants don’t maintain their stems above ground during the colder months. They let them die, whilst storing all their energy warm underground in their root systems ready for spring. This die back normally begins in autumn, but each plant begins it at a slightly different time. So determining when to begin it can be tricky and often disputable between gardeners.
To Cut in Winter or Not
Gardeners love to argue about gardening, and one of the most contested subjects is on when and if to cut back dead herbaceous stems.
In one camp you have the traditionalists, who like to cut back them in the autumn or early winter when they have started dying back. The advantage of this is that they are cleared away allowing the bed to be easily cleared of leaves and dug over. It also stops any pest and diseases from over wintering near your plants and effecting them in the spring.
The other camp meanwhile believes that you should leave the stems up over winter, providing winter interest from the frozen seed-heads sparkling in the frost. As well as of course providing a great winter shelter for many insects and wildlife. There are also certain plants, like agapanthus for example, where you don’t cut back until spring so that its foliage can protect the plant’s crown from frost damage.
Personally I lean towards the traditionalists if only because it is one less job to do in an ever busier spring. Winters in the UK are getting shorter and spring is starting much earlier. Spring is already a very busy period for gardeners, if not the busiest. In between sowing seeds, digging over beds, mulching, pruning and lawn repairs, I don’t have the time cut back all the herbaceous. Especially as I would have to go round delicately removing last year’s stems without damaging any new growth that’s already started growing.
Of course this is just my personal preference from working in a large public garden. How you prefer to do it in your own garden is absolutely up to you.
How to Cut Back Herbaceous Plants
Cutting back herbaceous plants is a pretty simple job. By definition, herbaceous plants regrow from their base each year. So generally speaking you cut the stems as close to the ground as possible. If you are worried about losing where you planted your plants, then a good tip is to use green split canes to mark its location once you’ve cut it back.
You can use your secateurs or shears to cut the stem. I prefer to use my secateurs as it allows you to be more accurate with you cuts, and you free hand can be used to collect the stems as you go.
If you would like more detail, here’s a short video I made a few years ago that shows how I cut back the plants in my own garden.