Cutting back
Cutting back
Question from Shoot User
1689 3
Re: Purple top (Verbena bonariensis) - my instructions state that they
should be 'cut down' once flowering has finished.
Last summer i didn't prune/cut back/dead head at all.
So this spring they looked a bit of a sorry state!
This week at last I 'dead headed' them, removed some dead leaves and cut
back the tall stems but only to remove broken parts of stems or obviously
'dead' parts - I didnt cut down right to the base.
They still look a bit of a mess but there is now new growth appearing both
in form of completely new stems AND new branches from the existing stems
left over from last year.
The question is in an ideal world, going back to last summer when
flowering had finished, should i have cut ALL stems down right to the base
- hence starting anew this spring. Would that achieve better results in
the long term or would that have been over doing it?
should be 'cut down' once flowering has finished.
Last summer i didn't prune/cut back/dead head at all.
So this spring they looked a bit of a sorry state!
This week at last I 'dead headed' them, removed some dead leaves and cut
back the tall stems but only to remove broken parts of stems or obviously
'dead' parts - I didnt cut down right to the base.
They still look a bit of a mess but there is now new growth appearing both
in form of completely new stems AND new branches from the existing stems
left over from last year.
The question is in an ideal world, going back to last summer when
flowering had finished, should i have cut ALL stems down right to the base
- hence starting anew this spring. Would that achieve better results in
the long term or would that have been over doing it?
Posted: Monday 16th of April 2012 06:00 PM