Hi, everybody!!!

This is my first year of really hardcore focus with Gardening (one good outlook regarding this Covid-19 forcing me to become even more of a hermit!!!)

and I REALLY need to know the best time to cut back my plants - at the first frost of the year or do I let them be until early next spring to cut them back???

Here is the list of my plants I need to know about: (I'm in zone5 or 5b)

1) Tanacetum niveum (white bouquet)
2) Aster angliae-novae'Skyscraper'
3) Hydrangea 'Quickfire'
4) Lupinus 'Manhattan Lights'
5)Gaillardia 'Spin Top Orange Halo'
6) spiderwort - tradescantia something...
7) Elijah Blue Fescue
8) purple fountain grass
9) echinacea purpure 'merlot' coneflower
10) leucanthemum x superbum Shasta daisy
11) phlox...

I think that's all and if anyone can tell me at least one or two of be grateful!!! I spent all of my soul into these plants' cultivation and I want them to be treated as well as possible. Thanks!! With Love, Joshua

When I lived in zone 8, I pruned and cleaned every fall. But now I live in zone 6. I prune in the spring and hope its late enough. All that unpruned growth and debris on the ground is insulation. Plants die back from the tips during the winter. If you prune in the fall, the dieback starts further into the plant. By spring, your plants may be smaller than they were last spring.

Removing debris from under plants is also now a spring job. In zone 8, having clean ground under shrubs was self-defense. Bugs winter over in debris. But, now in zone 6, I leave it. The bugs can't survive the harsh winters and the debris adds insulation to the roots.

How cold does it get at your house?

I do pruning and clean up early-ish in the spring.

I am zone 6A and have done it both in the Spring and the Fall. If you do in the Fall do not cut back to short, I leave 6 to 8 inches to protect crown of the plant.

I've done both seasons also. The Purple Fountain Grass is a tender perennial and won't survive.

If you planted Quickfire where it can attain its estimated size at maturity, you should not need to prune it. I leave the spent blooms for winter interest and Mother Nature takes care of the rest... although the spent blooms can be deadheaded at any time. If any stems do not leaf out by the end of May, they can be considered dead wood and pruned all the way down. Selective pruning should be all that it requires and you could do that at any time (and I really mean selective as in just cutting a handful of stems for aesthetic/safety/ or increased sunlight/wind reasons); they really should not need annual pruning if all is well. Be careful if cutting stems (that leafed out) in mid-to-late Spring as QF may already be "working" on its early, invisible, flower buds at the ends of the stems.

Oh, eureka!! I found the spot to post replies!
Thanks all for your responses. Much appreciated. Im creating the logistics as we speak.
I love you guys :):):)

P.S. I also love that phrase, "Winter Interest".
Talk soon again I hope :):):)
Joshua

aboard! yeah, I clean in the Fall- stops winter rot as well as bugs, but I usually don't have a winter- maybe hit 32* twice after Jan first?

Spring is best, the perennials will die back naturally and the grasses only need a tidy up in Spring.

The Hydrangea also shouldn't be pruned in Autumn.

kittriana said: aboard! yeah, I clean in the Fall- stops winter rot as well as bugs, but I usually don't have a winter- maybe hit 32* twice after Jan first?

Wowww...Im from Chicago and moved out 2 hours east to a small - nay - a miniscule town with a population of 500 - such a culture shock but it's exactly where I need to be to create my new series of paintings over the next year and a half (i am an artist and my oh my how art and gardening is the perfect reciprocal relationship or maybe i can just say that flora and dirt and the photosynthetic ingredients is simply a medium of art)...

Wait...hahahaa...i also am ADHD so I was bringing up Chicago and my new Indiana digs regarding the climate:

A usual winter day in both places can be anywhere from around 30°f to -10°f and with the wind chill can be -20°f to -30°f.
But i made sure to only get in-hardiness-zone plants so it should be ok.

And the purple fountain grasses i have are tender ones in this zone so at the first frost i will cut them back to 3", dig em up, pot em and bring them inside until spring.

In the 4 pics i attached the first 2 are my purplefountaingrasses. It is their 1st season of existence and holy moly one is a tad over 5' tall about 3.5' wide and the smaller one is a bit under half that.
My step Pops planted 3 in the backyard and they are only 2' tall and 1.5' wide. He thinks better soil, water amounts and maintenance etc doesnt help and im crazy for putting so much into them.
"Jam plant in old dirt. Water only when in the mood." That's his mantra haha.
Do i have resentment and anger issues with stepfather?? You bet hahahaha...

The last 2 pics are of the barn next door with some artsy editing.

I hope you got through the full mass of this post!!!
Thanks for the reply!

Hi Joshua,

Yes, your location of Leesburg, Indiana is listed as zone 5b: https://garden.org/nga/zipzone... and what a beautiful garden you've created in your new home! The barn and sky photographs with your artsy editing are superb!

My thought regarding pruning would be to wait until spring but I'm in zone 10a Florida and I don't know a thing about gardening in northern climates.

O yes, been to Chicago, thru Chicago and all around it. Deep cold, but back in the late 80's when I would drive thru everyone would have floated the parking lots and been ice skating on them all winter...brrr. Leesburg also somewhere I have been. If you are indeed art inclined, let me invite you to visit later in life many states such as NM and Montana and Utah. You will love it. , dirt just isn't his thing, chuckl. Some of us go fishing, some of us just feed the fish when we go fishing. Plants look really good
Yup, Florida has cold issues if it gets to 50* , Houston where I am is about the same. Watch out for winds because they kill plants, and watch for ice because it is hard on plants that can handle snow. Cleanup is usually left for Spring so that birds and small animals find shelter and food in the winter months. Not that you want to feed the field mice..

I'm sure there's no one correct answer as to whether, as a general practice, herbaceous perennial gardeners should cut down/back herbaceous perennials in the Fall versus in the Spring. Nevertheless, elsewhere, there's been some quite heated discussions on the matter.

Reasonably, things like climate and other growing conditions are part the decision. In addition, things like the type and style of perennial garden are relevant.

In our zone 5b location, I aim to plant and maintain a variety of herbaceous perennials in flower beds, the intent being to get continuous and changing flower colour throughout our growing season (here: largely through April to through October). This requires the use of a wide variety of different perennials, which are planted and maintained close together.

For me, cutting back continues and increases throughout the growing season, ending with the garden basically levelled in November. In my circumstances, I can identify with the Victorian idea of "garden hygiene". Cutting back, throughout the growing season is keeping ahead of problems. For instance, cutting back garden/tall phlox, after blooming or reblooming, prevents powdery mildew from getting to overwintering at soil level.

There is, however, an additional reason to cut things back promptly after blooming and that is to allow the sun and rain to reach perennials which have not bloomed yet. Through the Fall, a major concern is to expose the spring-blooming perennials to the Fall sun and rain.

Sunnyborders, are you in Zone 7b or 5b? There's quite a bit of difference: 5b winter temperatures range from -10 to -15. 7b temperatures range from 5 to 10. That's 25 degree difference! DarkEyedJunco lived in zone 5 so, what works in zone 7 won't work for him.

No one said you shouldn't do some summer pruning and cleanup, we all do. Herbaceous perennials die down to the ground every winter so it doesn't really matter how much and when you prune, they will start over from dirt level anyway. We are talking about woody perennials. In woody perennials, that extra growth will protect next year's buds from die back. If you prune too soon, the die back will affect next year's buds. Plants die back from the tips of the branches, so leaving extra tip gives extra die back room. Otherwise, your plant may get smaller every year instead of bigger.

The bugs will die at zone 5b temperatures no matter what you do or don't do but, the plants might thank you for that extra level of protection. Here in the desert, we don't do any fall cleanup because the extra dead stuff (leaves and dead plant tops) insulate the soil from cold. No snow to help with that job. Last year, I did do fall cleanup (but I did not prune) because I had a fungal problem I was trying to control. Luckily, we didn't get our usual bruising cold.

Sorry Daisy, my typo. It is zone 5b. Thanks. Have corrected it.

Should add that some pests and pathogens do survive winter temperatures here, either in the soil or in plant debris. Gave up on planting lilies and coneflowers with both lily beetles and coneflower rosette mite surviving year-to-year.

Slugs can also overwinter.

Arlene, and so do the rabbits!

Agreed, though the hawks are back in force.