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Pruning nepeta to keep it short

KmehKmeh Posts: 173
in Plants
Hi, looking for some advice please. I have a nepeta that grows to over 60cm at maturity, along a border and would like to continue the same nepeta further along the border for consistency. If I only want this next planting to be 30cm in height, can I just prune it more aggressively and it will still yeild that same flowering results or am I best to buy a dwarf variety and put up with the different colouring?

Posts

  • LoxleyLoxley Posts: 5,698
    edited August 2022
    I think it will grow back to roughly the same size no matter how hard you prune it, so you're looking at getting a smaller version. I don't think the colour is different on say, N. 'Junior Walker'. The different heights would annoy me but you can always take cuttings and replace the larger ones in due course.
    "What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbour". 
  • JennyJJennyJ Posts: 10,576
    I agree, get a dwarf variety. The taller one will always want to be that height and will put on that amount of growth before it flowers.
    Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
  • KmehKmeh Posts: 173
    Thank you!
  • AthelasAthelas Posts: 946
    edited August 2022
    Re: dwarf varieties, I have ‘Purrsian Blue’ — here’s a photo of mine

    I cut it down to the ground at the start of spring when new growth begins to appear at the base of the plant, and again in late July (when the flowers have all faded), to get two flowerings each year

    However it may not match your other nepeta exactly



    Nepeta ‘Kit Kat’ is another small variety that sounds good on paper, but I have it and find the foliage scraggly and thin with tiny leaves; it’s also far less floriferous. Sorry no photos as I’m away from the house for a week.
    Cambridgeshire, UK
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