Was the saw making noise while you were using it ? Just wanted to be sure you had it started ! It was a day to *sweat*, though......pretty darn warm for November . I started cutting back iris (weed whacker) , raking off the beds, and spreading the stuff on the big veggie garden. I'm probably about half done with them, and depending on the expected rain, *may* work on it again, tomorrow.

Was the saw making noise while you were using it ? Just wanted to be sure you had it started

I'm severely cutting back some jasmines that are in the front of the house. I hate that white sticky sap!

Another humid day with nothing but high 70's in the forecast for the next several days.

Ummm...Arlyn! Why would one cut back irises for the winter??

Getting rid of the foliage....which isn't "evergreen" in my climate....gets rid of any borer eggs that might be there, gets rid of a lot of fungal disease spores that overwinter on the leaves, keeps the frozen leaves from becoming a "mulch" on top of the rhizomes, helps to keep tree leaves and trash from "sticking" in the bed, as winter winds blow them around, and, just generally looks better ! If it's NOT done in the fall, it has to be done sometime before new growth starts

Ah, ha! Now I know what I should be doing in the iris beds! Thanks!

Barbalee, Arlyn's iris get covered with a layer of snow over the Winter months. In areas where the Winters are milder, you shouldn't trim, or remove the green leaves.

Hmmm I was wondering that myself. Should I trim the leaves as soon as they begin to yellow?

I don't know about you "warm weather" folks , In my climate the foliage winter-kills, almost every year. I would guess that in climates where it stays relatively green, just removing *spent* leaves would be the best option. Also, you "west of the Rockies" folk have no borers to contend with

I don't cut a thing. I do peel off foliage only when full brown at the base. I do spray, but haven't needed to this fall so far, but should anyways as its finally cooling down.

I am between Arlyn's and Gabe's zones [based only on cold temp] and don't trim all the leaves, but just pull out the spent leaves when browned and wilted. Most of them have been removed and more compost dug in between some of the newest clumps.

I just remove any browning or dried up leaves. This morning I did cut some large fans back a little , because they froze close to the base and began to flop over. Taking some of the weight off helped them stay up. The winter does kill of a lot of the foliage here, but I'm pretty neurotic about going out every day to pull off any dying leaves so they don't lead to rot.

Ohhh!! We don't get a lot of snow here...it usually melts off before the next one comes, but we do get some wicked freezes and wind. I think I'll roll with pulling the browned leaves and trimming any that get the flop but not cutting them all down. I like that idea. Thank you all!! I now have winter plans for sure

Sometimes winter is quite mild here, other times it can be harsh. Mild winter years I see healthy green fans almost all winter. I mostly just pull off brown leaves that detach with little force.

Yup -- I do what Neal does.

just cut siberian foliage. Since we mostly have medians, I don't seem to have bearded iris foliage. In early spring if no snow we can pull off dead leaves.

thanks everyone for sharing I think I will also just pull the brown leaves as well.

I too only pull the dead leaves. I like having a bit of green in my garden during winter - which has arrived in full with frost all week except one day of rain, which washed away the nice looking snow we had.

So now we have no snow and freezing temps... same old, same old. My plants do not like it, but at least I know the irises will be OK, even if they are covered in frost and drooping here and there.

The good news; other than taking the Dahlias inside to dry before they go into winter storage and raking up leaves and putting them in the beds to keep plants warm(ish), there is nothing I can do in my garden as long as it is frozen!

We have been warm for the time of year. It must have been down to freezing overnight as it was 35°F at 7am.

There's frost on my truck I'm heading to my mom's to check on the stalks there now. Also 10 inch spacing is tough on leaf removal from the garden. I used the blower last time and tags were all over, luckily I have row markers. Now I'll use a skinny rake and delicately sift through the garden.
44°F currently and all sunshine. 30 days, I lose count, of no rain here. Time to water, maybe mid-day onto the soil and not the fans??

I have been using a sprinkler because of how dry we have been.

Watered the LA's and JI's late yesterday afternoon when I got home. Also watered the pots. Some of the pots have been getting really dry really quickly.

Glad I read Lucy's comment about cutting back the Sibs. I need to do that too. And the dang squirrels have been in my potted JI's.