Louise's Utopia: It's Fall! Should I Prune My Garden Or Wait Until Spring?

Flame grass in winter, Northeast South Dakota

It's that time of the year again in the garden. The leaves are turning their yellows and browns. The petals of the flowers have fallen or turned crispy and brown. The seeds left behind by the lovely flowers are calling your name. It's time to harvest seeds and replant them in the spring! After all, that is what it is all about, more flowers in the spring!

But what about all that pruning that lay ahead? Should I trim my perennials now, or wait until spring? Here at the farm, I wait until spring. It is tempting to trim everything back and sit back until spring, knowing your work is finished. This also makes life easier as you will not have to muck through wet, messy leaves in the spring.

A good reason not to trim is the aesthetic beauty. Sometimes it is smarter and even more exciting to leave the garden as is! Flowers like the coneflower maintain their shape during winter and offer food for various birds. They have rigid, strong stems that withstand a heavy snowfall and poke up from the snow, offering an ornamental scene.

Is there a perennial that has a disease or did not grow as planned because of parasites? I would definitely trim those plants down or even remove them and replace them in the spring. I will dig an older plant from the garden and sprinkle a handful of seeds from another flower that benefits from stratification in the winter. By doing this, I save on purchasing a mature plant, and in spring, I only need to water and hope the new seeds sprout. Plants regrow quickly!

As far as tall grasses, I never cut them back! Tall grasses look amazing in the winter and add depth to the yard. They fill with snow or freeze, and sway, but a tall grass with a white coat on it is an eye catcher for any yard.

Lastly, and most importantly, besides beauty alone are the benefits to nature. Many little creatures bed down in the growth from your flowers and grasses. Spiders of all kinds build nests in late fall. I have seen many caterpillars in cocoons waiting for the warm spring!

Not cutting back until spring also protects the roots of your perennials during the colder parts of the winter.

If you are tempted to trim the garden back, consider waiting until the spring. Enjoy the garden scene with a winter backdrop! And let those little creatures have a VRBO for the winter at your place.

Whatever you do, take a moment to enjoy the garden's beauty each season!