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Verbena bonariensis - what to do....

BenDoverBenDover Posts: 488
in Problem solving
December 22nd.....still green.....still also throwing out some new shoots it is been so mild.....so....

Cut back to an inch of its life to ground level now, or....

leave it until late February/March by which time all its top growth will be dead (assuming Winter will hit at some point) and then cut back and tidy away for Spring and fresh new growth...

Last year I left it and it self-seeded and got the stuff coming up in the garden everywhere!  Nice though.

Posts

  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505
    Have the birds finished with the seeds?
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • Pete.8Pete.8 Posts: 11,340
    In my garden VB is a welcome weed that I've had for many years.
    From my experience it makes no difference if you cut down or leave them. They still shoot up everywhere in the spring, and the self-sown seedlings catch up quickly.
    I leave them alone until spring. If I cut all the perennials back this time of year, come spring I've no idea where anything is, so I'leave the tops on most things so I don't dig them up in the spring when I'm preparing for the coming season

    Billericay - Essex

    Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
    Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
  • BenDoverBenDover Posts: 488
    B3 said:
    Have the birds finished with the seeds?
    If they have then from last years experience, they are messy eaters and got more on the garden then they ate.  :D:D:D
  • Guernsey Donkey2Guernsey Donkey2 Posts: 6,713
    Last early winter I cut my VB down after they had finished flowering as I thought they looked messy, however this winter I have tried to do as little pruning as possible on all my finished plants, thinking that the structure looks interesting and it is better to be looking out of the window at something rather than nothing. The only plants that I have partially pruned are the roses after the last of the buds have flowered, to prevent wind rock causing the roots to loosen up, oh and the apples trees.
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    I leave them because they don't always survive here. Then I tidy in spring, once there's a good chance it'll stay warm enough for them to grow.
    If you don't want loads seeding around, you can deadhead, but they're easy enough to pull out if they do seed, as they're quite distinctive. 
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
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