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Salvia advice

Tanty2Tanty2 Posts: 231
in Plants
Hi - Last year I got carried away and planted lots of salvia.  I know it's still super early in the season but right now they all look a bit leggy and sparse and as a newbie to salvia, I don't know if I should chop them right back so they can get going with all new growth, or leave them well alone to do their own thing when they're good and ready!  Any savvy salvia hands out there with good advice?
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Posts

  • AnniDAnniD Posts: 12,585
    Do you know which varieties/types they are ?
  • FireFire Posts: 19,096
    edited April 2022
    Which types and names please?
  • JennyJJennyJ Posts: 10,576
    I cut mine back, but not until the worst of the cold weather is over. Maybe in a couple of weeks. Not right down to the ground though, except for Nachtvlinder which is turning out to be quite thuggish, spreading underground more like a perennial than a shrub.
    Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
  • AnniDAnniD Posts: 12,585
    I find Nachtvlinder is quite easy to pull out @JennyJ , l pot bits up and donate them to plant sales etc. I do an information sheet and include the comment about the spreading habit.
  • Tanty2Tanty2 Posts: 231
    So I have some hot lips, cherry lips, amethyst lips, amistad, black and bloom and clotted cream...
  • JennyJJennyJ Posts: 10,576
    It is, and I do! I treat it like a perennial, whereas my others behave more shrub-ish.
    Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
  • AnniDAnniD Posts: 12,585
    Re the Hot, Cherry and Amethyst Lips and the Clotted Cream, depending on whereabouts you are l would wait until middle of April just to be on the safe side. Here in the South West the forecast shows no overnight frost for the foreseeable, but l am going to wait. Some in my front garden are sheltered by the house walls, but others are a bit more exposed. 
  • FireFire Posts: 19,096
    edited April 2022
    Tanty2 said:
    Hi - Last year I got carried away and planted lots of salvia.  I know it's still super early in the season but right now they all look a bit leggy and sparse and as a newbie to salvia, I don't know if I should chop them right back so they can get going with all new growth, or leave them well alone to do their own thing when they're good and ready!  Any savvy salvia hands out there with good advice?

    I'm in the south and took a punt and pruned my shrubby salvias right back to green shoots in Sept, gambling on a gentle winter. Depending on where you are, you could gamble on light frosts from here and no more snow. You will know best how the temps work where you are.  A snow dump in April or even May is possible.

    It can be good to use your prunings as cuttings to make new plants.
  • Tanty2Tanty2 Posts: 231
    Hi AnniD - Thanks so much for this.  I'm in central Scotland so basically assume we're at least a fortnight behind the warmer bits of the country - we still have at least a week in front of us with temperatures below zero every night :)
  • JennyJJennyJ Posts: 10,576
    I have both Amistad and Black and Bloom. Both are showing signs of new growth at the base (early this year) but I won't be chopping off the old stems for probably a few more weeks. Unlike the shrubbier ones there isn't really enough old growth to protect the new growth from frost but I still feel better leaving them a while. Just a habit I think.
    I don't have "lips" types but I have a lot of the single colours including Clotted Cream and I'll be leaving them at least a few more weeks.
    Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
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