Pull the dead leaves of the Montbretia, better than cutting, looks much neater. You may want to pull some of the bulbs up as well, that’s quite a big patch. If there are any dead leaves just laying, you can remove those, looking out for bulbs shooting as you go.
Then as others have said, just wait a bit and see what comes up, if you don’t know what the plants are, put a piccy on here and someone will identify it for you.
I think you’ll be pleased come Spring?.
Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor.
Completely agree with previous posts - looks like there's lots of nice planting there. Lucky you!
I'd only tidy up the bits that look like they're rotting at this point - dead stems provide good shelter for overwintering insects, which you need for a healthy garden. The old growth may provide protection to the plant underneath during winter as well.
When it gets a bit warmer, you can chop/pull away the old growth, but leave it in a pile overnight at the edge of the border to give the insects a chance to leave. Then compost it!
Joyce ... think our foxes were too well fed to bother ... there were plenty of rabbits about ... the vixen had a den full of cubs less that 25m from my henhouse with 60 rare breed chickens and never ever tried to get them ... but perhaps she thought she'd better not disturb the guinea fowl so close to her nursery ... they made one heck of a racket if roused.
Sounds a bit as if we lived in a zoo doesn't it
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
My crocosmia looks exactly the same at the moment, a big old mess. When I get round to tidying it up I'm a puller, not a cutter. The old leaves come away very easily.
I can see a circular wire plant support (above the hellebore) in your 2nd pic. There should be something nice in that spot. Looks like you've inherited a well stocked herbaceous border, lucky you ?.
I leave my herbaceous plants well alone until the risk of frost has passed, the old stuff helps protect the young new shoots in my mind (but I'm no expert). Then it's tidy up time when the spring bulbs come through.
Posts
We had foxes on the smallholding too Joyce, but they never dug in the gardens ... but perhaps the same proviso as with the labrador applied
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Dove, I had to stop using FB&B because of foxes.
Pull the dead leaves of the Montbretia, better than cutting, looks much neater. You may want to pull some of the bulbs up as well, that’s quite a big patch. If there are any dead leaves just laying, you can remove those, looking out for bulbs shooting as you go.
Then as others have said, just wait a bit and see what comes up, if you don’t know what the plants are, put a piccy on here and someone will identify it for you.
I think you’ll be pleased come Spring?.
Completely agree with previous posts - looks like there's lots of nice planting there. Lucky you!
I'd only tidy up the bits that look like they're rotting at this point - dead stems provide good shelter for overwintering insects, which you need for a healthy garden. The old growth may provide protection to the plant underneath during winter as well.
When it gets a bit warmer, you can chop/pull away the old growth, but leave it in a pile overnight at the edge of the border to give the insects a chance to leave. Then compost it!
Happy gardening!
Joyce ... think our foxes were too well fed to bother ... there were plenty of rabbits about ... the vixen had a den full of cubs less that 25m from my henhouse with 60 rare breed chickens and never ever tried to get them ... but perhaps she thought she'd better not disturb the guinea fowl so close to her nursery ... they made one heck of a racket if roused.
Sounds a bit as if we lived in a zoo doesn't it
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Hi sallylouise, welcome to the forum ?.
My crocosmia looks exactly the same at the moment, a big old mess. When I get round to tidying it up I'm a puller, not a cutter. The old leaves come away very easily.
I can see a circular wire plant support (above the hellebore) in your 2nd pic. There should be something nice in that spot. Looks like you've inherited a well stocked herbaceous border, lucky you ?.
I leave my herbaceous plants well alone until the risk of frost has passed, the old stuff helps protect the young new shoots in my mind (but I'm no expert). Then it's tidy up time when the spring bulbs come through.
Looking forward to seeing your new garden bloom?