When should you cut back perennials? Already in autumn or not until spring? We clarify this important question for hobby gardeners in our article.
Why should you only cut perennials in spring?
Perennials should only be cut back in spring to ensure protection from cold and frost, to prevent bare beds in winter, to maintain attractive fruit and seed heads and to provide food and shelter for birds and beneficial insects.
Why a spring cut makes sense
There are several good reasons why you should prefer a spring cut:
- Protect perennials from cold and frost
- prevent beds that are too bare in winter
- attractive fruit and seed heads
- Benefits for birds and beneficial insects
Cold and frost protection
The fact is that uncut perennials are better protected from cold and frost. In particular, you should never cut frost-sensitive plants in autumn.
No bare beds in winter
Late-flowering perennials don't need to be cut in autumn. This is only necessary for species that sprout very early. It is therefore advisable to leave late bloomers over the winter so that you can enjoy a beautiful view when you look into your garden this season.
Attractive fruit and seed heads
Speaking of enjoying the beautiful sight: some perennials delight in winter with beautiful fruit and seed heads, which are a real feast for the eyes, especially when covered by hoarfrost or snow.
Benefits for birds and beneficial insects
The dried seed heads of perennials provide an important food source for birds in the cool season. In addition, beneficial insects find a practical winter quarters there.
Recommendation: Only cut back evergreen perennials such as golden strawberries or candytufts in autumn if they are overgrown.
Important: You should always remove diseased plant parts in autumn to prevent diseases.
What you need to consider when pruning in spring
Make sure to cut early bloomers in the fall. In general, it is important not to shorten any fresh shoots - this would endanger the flowering. Here are the essentials about the tool:
- To cut the perennials, use secateurs (€14.00 on Amazon) or perennial sickle. The latter is ideal because it cuts off many stalks at once. For robust ground cover plants, you can also use pole hedge trimmers and use them as a scythe. To do this, simply angle the cutting head appropriately.
- Use only sharp tools to cut the perennials properly and not to crush them.
- When cutting roses, the scissors must be completely clean and disinfected so as not to transmit any pathogens.
- Clean the tool used immediately after cutting the perennials so that the plant juices do not dry.