Above …. Ironweed in good soil.
Also known as the Chelsea Chop, cutting back certain plants by 1/3 to 1/2 is a common practice to maintain control and size in the garden.
One of the things I’ve noticed with native plants is that when you find them in parks with poor native soils, lots of competition, no extra water other than the rain and certainly no fertilizer, they seem to maintain a diminished size. Once you buy that same plant and put it into good garden soil with compost, fertilizer, lots of space and plenty of water, the native turns from dwarf to GIANT. In the past, I end up staking many of these plants just so they don’t fall over.
I am making a conscious effort this year, around May 15th, to cut back all of these giants by 1/2.
Here’s a list of plants which I plan to trim back.
- Downy Skullcap (Scutellaria incana)
- Echnacea purprea – Purple coneflower – only doing this with some so I can get some later blooms.
- Helianthus silphioides – Silphium Sunflower – 2020 N
- Heliopsis helianthoides – Ox-eye Sunflower
- New England Aster
- Oligoneuron rigidum – Rigid Goldenrod
- Salvia – cutting back half of the plants.
- Senna marilandica – Wild Senna
- Solidago rigida or Oligoneuron rigidum – Rigid Goldenrod
- Vernonia p. Ironweed
- Veronica – cutting back half of the plants.
Here’s a video on the technique.
Technique #2 – Pinching Your Plants
Many annuals and some perennials can have more branches and blossoms by simply cutting back the main stems – called pinching since you can use your fingers to make the cut.
When you pinch the main stems, you usually force the plant to send out side shoots which will make the plant bushier and increase flower production.
Here’s a good video on the process.
Technique #3 – Chop half the plants.
I noticed one year that the bunnies had taken a liking to some of my echinacea and kept them trimmed low most of the early part of the season. While most of my echinacea bloomed normally, the bunny-trimmed echinacea bloomed later in the summer and into the fall. I thought I’d try this technique by chopping back half of my echinacea so I theoretically will have echinacea blooming all year round.
Beautify Crestwood 