I‘M BUSY MAKING BAD SITUATIONS WORSE THESE DAYS, which is exactly what has to be done to bring any garden from now to a visually pleasing high summer and fall. It’s not unlike cleaning your closet: Things have to get pulled apart and look a lot messier before they get better. Really. The butchery around here extends beyond the huge swaths of beheaded bigroot geranium (Geranium macrorrhizum), above. Want the hit list? Feeling brave?
Some euphorbias, particularly the basic early spring yellow species called polychroma, will start to flop open and get mildewy here if they don’t get a brutal cutback, so you can see (left) what I’ve done to them (same thing I do again in earliest spring before new growth begins).
The new red-foliage polychroma cultivar, ‘Bonfire,’ seems to stand up better to summer, so I’m not chopping it down. Will I regret it? Don’t know…only my second year with the plant, so it’s all an experiment.
Which is what cutbacks are: You observe what is going on, and if it’s not looking good, you consider administering a haircut.
The pulmonarias were shorn to the ground after flowering last month, and already have a new set of showy leaves (instead of tattered, about-to-mildew old ones). They would have grown a new set right up and over the old, but I prefer to just shear them, rather than fussily deadheading each flower stem.
Perennial salvias, like the popular ‘May Night’ and the nemorosa varieties ‘Snow Hill’ and ‘Caradonna,’ can do with a good, hard cutback when they’re done blooming. A new rosettes of foliage will be emerging down below, and a lower-impact second flush of bloom will eventually be mustered.
Catmints (Nepeta) look a mess when they pass their first major bloom, so hack them back I do (again, same treatment as in earliest spring), forcing another flush of foliage and perhaps more flowers. Again, most of all what I am seeking to do is avoid having to stare at big, ugly, floppy plants long past their prime. I’d rather have a tidy, smaller mound of fresh green and a bit of a hole than a gone-by mess.
Apparently some visitors here agree, including two from mores southerly zones (John and Writermom, see their comments), who confessed to cutting down their spring-flowering Clematis recently after intense heat had fried them. Again, experiments. One, so far, reported success, even though the books won’t tell you summer Clematis butchery is on the recommended list.
With anything you are this harsh on, be sure to keep an eye on watering while it rejuvenates. And don’t panic, or at least not right away. Some plants (like my euphorbias) will sit there looking like you killed them for a week (or two or three). And then, most times, they’ll get up and growing all over again.
Given any good haircuts lately? Perhaps that stringy hanging basket of petunias?
high on vines: intoxicating garden climbers 
pruning roundup: what shrubs i prune when 
Hi I just found your site and loved the photos. Did you ever try growing the ” Happy Thoughts” Pelargonium? Not only does it have flourescent orange-red flowers but fancy green leaves with a cream center. Very stunning!
Welcome, Terry. Haven’t grown that one, but now that you’ve told me I will have to go find it. Hope to see you again soon.
Hi Margaret,
We’re having a terrible time with 2 ground hogs.
They’ve mown down my flox, perennial sunflowers, sage,etc. If I cut back the damaged stems is there a chance that they might still bloom this season? I think the ground hogs have moved on to greener pastures. Do you have any suggestions about keeping them away?
Thanks!
Welcome, M.E. Here in farming country any number of neighbors is happy to get rid of them for me, as they are highly unwelcome. I have used every method…a large Havahart trap; sulphur/smoke bombs in their burrows, and the services as I say of local hunters/trappers when I cannot get the guys myself. You can read about my first woodchuck experience in this essay. Since they can dig so adeptly and climb and go just about anywhere they wish, these are the hardest pests to get rid of, but do so ASAP; do not let them get established.
As for your eaten crops, some things will send up another shoot and some will not, and most will be delayed or prevented from blooming this year, as you suspect. So sorry.
Hi Margaret,
Quick question – should Echinacea and Shasta Daisy also be cut back by half? What if they already have buds?
Thanks!
Cynthia
@Cynthia: No, I would not cut those back now. I suspect you could have early on with the Shasta to make it flower later/smaller, but I have never tried.
Thanks Margaret,
I may try it another year when I feel more adventurous and will keep you posted.
For this year, I will leave as is – they may be all I have in bloom come late summer, given the year we’ve had so far!
Cheers,
Cynthia
I’m so glad I found you. I went to your lecture in Bedford and you became an inspiration for me.
Is lettuce a good candidate for containers and is it too late to plant them? I just started a vegetable garden.
Margaret,
I am a HUGE fan of whacking back (I think that is a technical horticultural term)
tired, leggy, or weather damaged annuals and perennials, even some shrubs
around here. Long growing seasons in this southern state demand it. And
when the 100 degree temps set in, and all looks brown and worn out, good grooming is all you have! That and good design…………..good, strong bones to your landscape is never more important than in an August in OK! Thanks for this wonderful reminder.
@Linda: If you can give them some shade (half a day or so, especially protection from midday sun) they will be fine in containers or the ground in summer, particularly varieties rated for summer production (heat-resistant kinds). Big pots, though — not small ones where their roots will cook and cause the plants to heat up and bolt!
I’ve been gardening in the Willamette valley in Oregon for a long time, and have learned to be a “whacker” too. Even though we have had a very rainy spring with cool weather, my fall blooming sedums set buds early. I cut them back each May or June by 2/3rds to prolong the flowering and keep them from flopping. Right now they look sad, but they will be beautiful in September!
Great website!
Welcome, Cheryl. I wish I had cut back more things already…we had a very early/fast spring and many things are too far advanced for my liking. Lots of work to do! Thanks for your kind words, and see you soon again.
my coppertina have some terrible patches of dense powdery mildew but other
parts of the bushes (i have 4) are just fine. should i cut them back? will that help?
These bushes seem very prone to this problem. What are your recommendations?
Arlene, I had the same problem with my coppertina. Last year it had powdery mildew pretty bad, and I cut out all of it and thinned the shrub drastically, as well as thinning all the perennials around it. The mildew came back twice. This spring it showed up again. I have several other ninebarks and only the coppertina has done this. It also seems the most prone to seeding all over the place. I chopped it to the ground this time. You might have more patience than me, and try spraying it with milk or baking soda or whatever recipe you have. But do get Diablo if you don’t have it. I have 4 of them and they never have mildew.
Welcome, Deborah, and thank you for adding to the conversation. I have never had mildew here in the Hudson Valley of NY State on several old Diablo, several Dart’s Gold, or one Coppertina. Apparently I got lucky! See you soon again, I hope.