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November 7, 2009 · 9 Comments

The Cap Theory of Garden Cleanup

How to

girl in cap

Looks in good in cap

Let’s face it: Not everyone looks good in a cap. The young lady at right, for instance, has always looked good in hats.  Sadly, I don’t look that good in caps, and so only wear them while gardening. But I think about caps while cleaning up the garden in fall, and today was a perfect day for garden cleanup in Minnesota: warm temperatures, sun, no wind and the ominous threat that this will not last lingering in the air.

So here is the Cap Theory of Garden Clean-Up: Any perennials that would look good in a cap of snow should be left standing. Plants like sedum, Joe Pye weed, yarrow, coneflower, and some rudbeckia provide the perfect landing pads for snowflakes, making them a bright spot in the otherwise monotonous tones of winter. Other plants that might be left standing are those with interesting color and texture, such as grasses or Husker Red penstemon, which as bright red stems. Cut down any plants that look flat or soggy after freezing, such as hosta (yuck — nothing is more unsightly than a hosta after a freeze) and daylilies. Today I also cleaned up a lot of Clara Curtis daisies, some Mexican hat, and a scraggly looking Walker’s Low nepeta. Because they may carry powdery mildew, the phlox also got cut back.

coneflowers with snow cap

Coneflowers look good with a snow cap.

You don’t have to cut plants back in the fall  at all while doing garden cleanup — and many years, I have just not gotten around to it. But with beautiful weather, it’s fun to walk around the yard, shears and pruners in hand, deciding what would look good wearing snow this winter.

Sedum with snow cap

Sedum always look good in snow.

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Comments

  1. Rhonda Fleming Hayes says

    November 10, 2009 at 3:11 pm

    I love the cap theory. When I make the last pass through the dead stuff in the garden tomorrow, that’s gonna be my slogan.

  2. Barbara says

    November 24, 2009 at 9:44 am

    That is a great principle! I’ve left my coneflowers standing and they are also full of feeding chickadees if we approach quietly. I’ve enjoyed finding your Minnesota garden blog (found you on Blotanical) as a former Minnesotan myself. In fact, many years ago I spent a semester at Carleton College.

Trackbacks

  1. My Northern Garden » Blog Archive » Sedum is an Autumn Joy says:
    September 20, 2010 at 7:03 pm

    […] most about them is what they add to the winter garden. Leave them standing and soon you will have snow-capped blooms that add an element of shape, texture, and fun to the […]

  2. The Wrong Kind of Snow for Gardeners | My Northern Garden says:
    November 13, 2010 at 12:14 pm

    […] waxed poetic in the past about how pretty some plants look wearing little snow caps and the magical quality of plants covered in hoar frost. Yes, winter in the northern garden can be […]

  3. 10 Fall Gardening Chores to Do Now says:
    October 18, 2013 at 11:31 am

    […] back unsightly perennials. Some perennials look lovely with a dusting of snow and those can be left standing for winter interest. But other perennials […]

  4. Ideas for Fall GardeningNotes from Northern Gardener says:
    September 18, 2015 at 6:13 am

    […] example, and many annuals) but others add texture and shape to the garden all winter. I apply the “cap theory” when deciding what to cut back. If a plant would look good in a cap of snow, it can stay. So plants […]

  5. Should You Cut Back Perennials in Fall? - Notes from Northern GardenerNotes from Northern Gardener says:
    October 16, 2015 at 9:24 am

    […] The main argument you hear in favor of leaving perennials standing through winter is that they create winter interest — and some do. I like sedum in snow and at least for awhile many grasses look nice, […]

  6. The Wrong Kind of Snow for Gardeners says:
    October 4, 2018 at 3:49 pm

    […] waxed poetic in the past about how pretty some plants look wearing little snow caps and the magical quality of plants covered in hoar frost. Yes, winter in the northern garden can be […]

  7. Sedum is an Autumn Joy - My Northern Garden says:
    December 3, 2019 at 1:43 pm

    […] most about them is what they add to the winter garden. Leave them standing and soon you will have snow-capped blooms that add an element of shape, texture, and fun to the […]

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