By Mary Jo Baur
As the weather gets colder, it is getting to be time to think about putting your garden beds in shape for the winter. You can cut back your tall perennials before frost arrives. Even cutting them back to a few inches above the soil line is okay. They won't get matted down under snow and possibly develop mildew or harbor any diseases. And next spring you will see the new growth right away.
That being said, if you would like to leave a few perennials with dried flowerheads standing for the birds, you can do that. The birds may like landing on them and eating the seeds. Some plants to consider would be echinacea (purple coneflower), rudbeckia (black-eyed susans), sedum (such as 'Autumn Joy'), astilbe and some of the ornamental grasses. They can all look beautiful dusted with snow in the winter. I also leave my anise hyssop standing since the goldfinch love to eat their seeds.
No comments:
Post a Comment