Spring Flower Bed Clean-Out in the Rain! 🌿✂️💦 // Garden Answer

It is easier to use falcos (hand pruners) rather than hedge trimmers if the perennials are very soggy, as they tend to gum up in the blades of the hedge trimmers.

For ornamental grasses like totem pole panicums, you can use a piece of wire to tie them together and then cut them back with hedge trimmers so they stay tidy. For larger grasses like desert plains penicetum, this method may not work as well.

The process involves cutting back all the plants, cleaning up the beds, and then, once water is turned on, checking each irrigation zone for leaks, which are repaired. Afterwards, mulching is done. Fertilization is also important and should be done before the rain so it gets pushed down to the plant roots.

For landscape type roses, such as Senoritas, it's best to remove as many leaves as possible and cut back spent blooms and rose hips. Typically, these roses don't require as extensive pruning as other types, although they do benefit from being thinned out.

Yes, different fertilizers are used depending on the plants: plantone for general plants, rose tone for roses, and holly tone for evergreens.

If the cut back plants have buds, like daisies or hibiscus, they can be more challenging to cut back because they are thick and wet. Care should be taken with the buds as they can be fragile.

A dinner plate hibiscus may wilt and look unhealthy if planted in the middle of the summer. It's best to provide proper care and wait until the next year, as it may come back strong and produce many flowers.