Native Plants
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Ask Mr. Smarty Plants is a free service provided by the staff and volunteers at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.
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Sunday - February 20, 2011
From: Cody, WY
Region: Rocky Mountain
Topic: Wildflowers
Title: Trimming back wildflower beds in Cody Wyoming
Answered by: Barbara Medford
QUESTION:
I live in Cody Wyoming and I have some wildflower beds in front of my house that didn't get trimmed back this summer...they look like swamp plants now, super nasty. Should I trim them now?ANSWER:
We are assuming that these are probably perennials; if not, and they are annuals, you can just pull them out since they should have long since dispersed their seeds for this year's growth and bloom. Perennials can be trimmed off any time after they have dropped their leaves, as they are going to return from their roots. They can be trimmed all the way to the ground, but we prefer to leave stems of about 6" in order to see where the plant we planted is and not mistake it for a weed and pull it out.
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