I've heard that sedum spectabile responds well to the Chelsea chop, by growing more compact with less of the floppy sprawl. How much am I supposed to cut off? The stems are currently 8 - 12 inches long.
I've never bothered cutting mine back as the season is short here and I can't afford to delay the flowering. Just make sure you pot up the cuttings as they root really easily. I'd chop off enough to give a good size for cutting materials which would probably be about half the stem height.
If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
I’ve just chopped some big white sprawling Daisys, margarette types. They were already about 2’ tall, I know they will fop all over the place if I don’t.
Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor.
I chopped my sedums this week too - in past years they have flopped over and blotted our some bedding plants in front of them. They were about 10 - 12 inches tall before I cut them although no actual flower heads had formed yet (too early for them). I will be interested to see if they perform better and are less floppy and also if they are visited by as many bees as in previous years.
I've chelsea chopped for the first time this year. I've done some of my salvia caradonna, achillea The Pearl, Lemon Queen. I'm gonna compare the chopped to the unchopped to see which is best.
I chop my sedum spectabile to within 2 or 3 inch from the ground, can't do with them flopping everywhere. I do a few plants to help stagger flowering / leggy plants heleniums - phlox and others. It aimed mainly at plants what are summer flowering or late flowering not plants flowering in spring.
Gosh Perki that is brave - 2 - 3 inches! Mine are still over 6 inches tall and as this is the first time for me too Yvie - I have been cautious too. I did wonder whether to chop Michaelmas Daisies - they are late flowering too - any suggestions?
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