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Knowing how — and when — to cut back your perennial plants in Plano TX

Knowing how — and when — to cut back your perennial plants in Plano TX

Perennial plants in Plano TX can benefit greatly from pruning and other forms of maintenance. It is important to know the ideal time to take care of pruning and have a firm grip on some of the techniques that will yield the best results.

In Plano TX, we are entering that time of the year where you might want to consider cutting back some of your perennial plants. Perennial plants that fruit or flower are often best pruned during the winter months when they are dormant. In most areas, that means late in the winter or even early into the spring.

You do not want to wait too long to prune your flowering or fruiting perennial plants, because you risk cutting off new, healthy growth. For some other plants, there is no ideal time to trim them — they require regular care and maintenance in order to grow strong and vibrant.

Tools of the trade

As you cut back your perennial plants, you will encounter dead or useless growth of all different shapes and sizes. Many men and women assume a hand pruner or shearers will be enough. However, if you are tending to larger, flowering and fruiting trees, you will also need heavier duty equipment, like saws or loppers.

Knowing what to cut

Knowing what sort of growth needs to be cut back will, for the most part, be pretty obvious. There are, however, some instances where perfectly healthy growth must go for the sake of your plant’s health.

In fruiting and flower trees, it’s important to cut away suckers, as they simply absorb the plant’s water and nutrients but do not contribute to the fruiting or flowering process. Plus, when suckers grow large enough, they will overtake a tree and make it look unkempt.

The necessary branches of a tree will produce flowers or fruit, so feel free to trim your trees back, as long as you’re cutting away what appears to be unnecessary growth.

In plants, you will want to cut away anything that is dead. This includes areas where fruit and flower once grew, but now there is a dead mass in its place. Some plants need to be cut all the way down. It’s important to research these plants first, so you’re not destroying one of your perennial plants. Most plants should be cut back before winter, but many of them are able to hold their own even during these colder months here in Plano.

Some room for error

It’s important to note that, while you do not want to error on either side of the pruning spectrum, there still is room for error. Perennials are durable plants, and, as their name suggests, will find a way to grow when the next season rolls around. As long as you don’t do anything too extreme with your pruning efforts, you should be able to preserve the tree or plant.

Cutting back perennials is a great do-it-yourself lawn and garden project, but many Plano TX professional lawn care services can handle it, too. Emerald Lawn Care specializes in this, and many other, lawn maintenance tasks. Feel free to contact their team as needed.