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| Can I saftley cut my tall phlox back.it is over waist high
with all this rain we are having it is way to tall for me. Red marnarda also. Thanks |
Follow-Up Postings:
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- Posted by gardenweed_z6a 5b/6a N CT (My Page) on Fri, May 13, 11 at 18:05
| Phlox paniculata/tall garden phlox can be pinched back to control height, increase blooms and result in bushier plants that don't need staking. I pinch the top two leaves on each stem when my plants get 2 ft. tall or around the middle of June, whichever comes first. This year they're going to be 2 ft. tall by June 1 at the rate they're growing. Can't help with Monarda didyma/bee balm--this is my first year growing it--but I'm interested in the answer. |
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| Yes you can pinch a lot of perennials to make plants stockier, Phlox and Monarda included. This will also delay the bloom time somewhat. For Monarda didyma (red Monarda), I usually trim about half the stalks, to try and extend the bloom period, so that some stalks bloom at the usual time, and some bloom later. For Monarda fistulosa, I'm going to whack all of them down by half, because they get so floppy. |
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- Posted by brunosonio z7WA (My Page) on Wed, Jun 8, 11 at 23:42
| Here in the very wet, cold, rainy PNW my David phlox is already nearly chest high and nowhere near blooming yet. I have a large area of about 7 year old clumps, and have experimented with different pinching back times over the years. I just cut them back by a third tonight, taking 12-18" off the tops, depending on the stalk length. The middle groups were taller than the outer edges, so I evened everything out and only pinched tops on the shorter stalks. I actually prefer cutting or pinching back to delay the bloom time. I've also heard that if you cut them back again after they finish blooming you might be able to get yet another bloom in late summer. I'm going to try that this year, since the plants are so healthy and established. What is hard for us up here is that spring is so wet that it puts my phlox into an early growth overdrive. Then the hot dry summer hits in July/August and the plants get stressed unless they are watered heavily. With the climate change of the past few years, I'm gradually pulling out many tender perennials and switching to hardy natives. Or rather, nature is doing the culling for me with the bigger extreme temperature shifts! I'm learning to appreciate foilage rather than flowers, LOL. |
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