Managing Perennials
Managing perennials in today’s mixed landscape designs has become a challenge for homeowners, as well as landscape professionals. But with such complicated plantings and diverse materials, how does one manage these landscapes to optimize the overall design? Communication with the designer is the best way to gain an understanding of how the composition was intended to work. Good designs are often orchestrated with a precision that approaches choreography; providing color and interest through all four seasons.
As a general rule, perennials are plants that live longer than annuals but are not quite as sturdy or woody as shrubs. All perennials benefit from cutting back after bloom to tidy them up and remove spent flowers; but how much to cut back and when depends on the plant type and the desired effect. For simplicity’s sake, group perennials by how they grow. There are three broad (and rather arbitrary) categories:
Crown Types: Phgelius, Echinacea, Verbascum, Salvias (rosette types):
Herbaceous Types: Campanula, Coreopsis, Ajuga, Stachys:
Root Types: Hemerocallis, Dahlias, Alstromerias, and Oenothera:
There may be no iron-clad rules when it comes to handling perennials but all good maintenance plans incorporate a thorough understanding of each plant Including how it grows and what part it plays within the garden as a whole.
Communicating with the designer, the guidelines above, combined with your own observations and experience are a surefire formula for creating the optimal maintenance plan for your garden.