Preparing perennial plants for winter

Hello Marla,

Putting your garden to bed properly will result in a prettier, healthier garden t next season.

That is a very thoughtful question. Prevention of troublesome diseases and can be effective way to have a healthier and beautiful garden the next season.

I tend to clean up most of my garden as I don’t want to give any chance for moldy type diseases to overwinter for next season. I do leave my coneflowers and my tall grasses ( miscanthius) for winter interest and the birds seem to enjoy them, removing them early spring before new growth begins.

Heres a helpful link with more detailed information that might give you some pointers. Happy gardening I hope this helps!

https://www.thespruce.com/perennial-plants-to-cut-back-in-the-fall-1402712

https://extension.illinois.edu/gardenerscorner/issue_02/fall_07_05.cfm

http://fafard.com/fall-garden-cleanup/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8PQEBokUax0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O00cvGhgWj8

Hello Marla! I live in Montana and have overwintered Karl Foerster grass and cut it down in spring. My reason for doing so was for winter interest. The problem is, winter wind and snow bends it terribly which does not make for nice winter interest. I finally decided to cut it down in fall. It comes back beautifully either way, but cutting in fall makes the garden look nicer. If it weren't for heavy snow, I would leave it, but you get the same kind of winters we get. Love that grass. It is used extensively here.