Is it time to cut back my Ornamentals?

This time of year…

after the grass has gone dormant and the leaves are picked up, many customers ask when we will cut back their ornamentals. There are several that benefit from minor shaping, major lopping or even “rejuvination” pruning. Here are the most common Oklahoma ornamentals we trim and the best time do it:

Ornamental Grasses:

There are more ornamental grasses than we can name in a short blog post but the most common in Oklahoma are Pampas, Maiden, Monkey(Liriope), Fountain, Hamlin, etc. Allow these grasses benefit from a cut back in late winter. They can be cut back earlier if preferred but we think they had nice winter interest and texture to the landscape. February is usually the best time to trim just before the grass starts to put on new growth for the spring. Do you have an older grass with a center that has died out? It may be time to divide the plant in half or even quarter it to remove the dead section. This provides new grass you can use anywhere in your landscape and keeps your old grass looking happy and healthy.

Crapemyrtles:

By now most people of seen and heard of the horror of “CRAPEMURDER”. We’re not sure how this style of pruning began but we’ve done our best to convince customers that light shaping is the best way to trim crapemyrtles. We recommend removing crossing branches, unwanted lower branches and volunteer growth from the base. When pruning the top, we remove the old seed heads and don’t trim back anything bigger than your pinky finger. This can be done any time after the tree has gone dormant and before it pushes out new growth in the spring. Occasionally you’ll find a major branch did not survive the winter. It’s best to trim it all the way back to the ground and let the other surviving branches takeover. In rare cases, a crapemyrtle may be completely killed by extreme temperatures and drought. These trees can benefit from “rejuvination” pruning or cutting the entire tree all the way to the ground to allow for regrowth from the roots.

Roses:

Everyone seems to have their own opinion on roses. In recent years roses have been decimated by the Rose Rosette disease. Research is still ongoing as to the best way to prevent it and the possible production of resistant varieties. The virus is usually carried by a mite that causes the infection. For this reason, we trim roses as little as possible during the growing season to reduce the spread of the mite and disease. A one-time harsh pruning in February is usually enough to make in through the year when roses have room to grow. Also, we also do not recommend deadheading shrub roses such as knockouts to reduce transmission.

Perennials:

There are so many perennials it’s hard to paint them with a broad brush when it comes to cutbacks. As a general rule, we cut them back to the ground when they wilt and die back after the first freeze.