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Several years ago I subscribed to the BritBox streaming service just so I could watch the BBC's Gardener's World weekly TV show. It was there that I learned about the "Chelsea chop" pruning method that is named after the UK's Chelsea Flower Show which is held in late May. In late spring, prune certain late flowering perennials back hard, by a third or half. This does two things, one is to force the plant to bloom later in the year. The other benefit is the plants are shorter and less likely to flop over. This year I am doing the Chelsea chop on asters, coreopsis and boltonia. On the boltonia I just chop the front half, and let the back half get taller and bloom earlier. Of course mums can be pinched back up until the fourth of July. Also, the folks at Gardener's World recommend chopping echinacea, which I have never tried before on that plant. There is a good article on their website:
https://www.gardenersworld.com/plants/how-to-do-the-chelsea-chop/ |
