What do I need to do to my garden to prepare it for winter?

In My Humble Opinion
1

I know nothing about gardening, other than I know I can buy pretty plants in the spring and stick 'em in the ground and they grow. I did that this year, and now it’s starting to snow, and I’m wondering what the heck do I do?

I have a mixture of perennial bushes and shrubs that the previous owners planted, along with some flowers and my herb garden.

I have tomato plants, too, but I know what to do with them: pull 'em up and throw 'em away.

Beyond that, I’m clueless.

Here’s what I have, what should I do?

Parsley: I have a big parsley plant that I planted two springs ago. This year it was definitely more woody than is deal for an herb. Should I cut it back? Pull it up and plant new parsley next year? Leave it alone?

Other herbs: I know to pull up the annuals. Anything else special I should do for the remaining perennials? I have thyme, chives, and oregano that I think comes back every year.

Perennial Flowers:

I have Irises (transplanted from a friend’s garden), a globe thistle, Salvia, lupines, and hollyhocks. They look like crap nowadays. Should I cut them back or leave them as they are?

Shrubs/Bushes:

I have a ton of gorgeous Hostas that are overgrowing their beds. What to do?

Also have something called a “butterfly bush”. It’s huge. Can I cut it back? Will it just return as big next year?

I also have a ton of other stuff that I don’t even know what they are. Is there some rule of thumb for cutting versus leaving what look like dead branches all winter?

For what it’s worth, I live in the frozen north. Assume everything will be buried under many feet of snow until next May.

2

The buddleia (butterfly bush) should be cut back before the growing season starts next year – you can wait and do it in the spring if you want to look at the bare plant all winter. (Some people do, some people don’t.) When the time comes, cut it all back to within a foot of the ground, and it will grow to more or less its current size by early summer.

Herbs – dunno, not my expertise.

Other stuff – depends on the plant. Invest in a copy of Barbara Damrosch’s Garden Primer. No gardener – beginning or advanced – should be without it.

3

Let’s try that link again.

4

The trick is, if it grows with a bulb, cut if off or tie at ground level and leave it. The Hostas cut back all the way and they will grow back X2 next year, no worries there. The herb garden, cut back to the ground and leave them. Tomatoes you’ve got the right idea already.
The butterfly bush, cut all the way back to the stalk. it will grow back as big next year.

Sounds like you have the all american garden growing in your yard…I only say this because I have the same stuff in mine and we do the same chores year after year. Our last home had the same garden plants as well and we did the same things as well.

5

Thanks!

What if I don’t want the butterfly bush and the hostas to grow back twice as large next year? They’re already taking over… I’d like to get them a little smaller if possible.

Any ideas on the Irises and Lupines? Wait… Irises grow from bulbs, right? So I cut them off? What does “tie it at grond level” mean?

I’ll look for that book, too, Twickster. Thanks!

6

Hostas you don’t have to do anything, they’ll die back on their own. If they’re too big for where they are, you’ll have to divide them, which you can do next spring. (Damrosch will explain dividing – basically you dig up the clump, divide it in two, replant half, and give the other half away – or toss it, if you’re profligate.) The buddleia won’t get bigger – if it’s bigger than you want, you can trim it back midsummer to a size you can live with.

7

Some people instead of cutting thier daffodils and other bulb growing plants they tie them in a knot at ground level. Some older gardeners say this protects the bulb slightly more than cutting them out right. I have no empircal evidence to show this works and the idea was most likely born from generations of habit rather than any real good reasoning. However, my mother who prides herself on her lilies and daffies each year, would never be caught dead cutting them at the end of the season, she always ties them off. I think it is to protect herself from her red-hat lady friends than anything else. :slight_smile:

8

It’s not an old wives’ tale at all. The foliage feeds the bulb for the next year’s bloom, so you should not cut off the foliage until it’s totally brown. Neatniks tie it off instead of letting it flop around – but you must let it die back.

9

I hope Athena doesn’t mind but I have a question that would fit nicely in her thread:

I always thought you cut your rose bushes down in the fall but a friend recently told me to wait until the spring. She has tons more experience than I so I know I should believe her but still, what do you all say?

10

I prune in the spring (and don’t cut them all the way back). You can see where the dead wood is when they’re coming out of dormancy.

11

Thanks, Twicks!