Timely Tip Archive

We are beginning to compile tips that are categorized by season. They will be featured on our home page and then moved to this archive and available for your reference. Check back often for new tips.

Have a tip to share? Email it to info@northwestperennialalliance.org.

Winter

  • Do you have a Phormium that has grown to large for its space? or flattened by snow?
    Click here to find out how to give it a new look.
  • Ornamental Grasses often raise a myriad of questions. Should I cut them back? If so, when? How? Click here to for answers to those questions and more.
  • Pruning Summer Shrubs - Flowering summer shrubs can be pruned back starting in the month of March. Caryopteris x clandonensis, Ceanothus 'Burkwoodii (deciduous) and Leycesteria (nutmeg bush) are just some examples. These shrubs flower best on growth made since the spring. Cut back to almost the ground leaving one or two shoots on each stem -- if you want to increase the size of the shrub leave a few stems on and prune lightly. Provided by Carol Holloway, NPA Board Member and Border Committee Chair.

Spring

  • Go on a slug fest - In the early spring, any method of choice is more effective for longer when done as early in the season as possible. Slugs begin to feed, hatch and lay eggs as soon as soil temperatures rise above 40 degrees. They forage at night or on cool, damp days. Finding hiding places under garden debris and destroying eggs will start the attack. Then try your favorite folklore remedy to go after the voracious feeding babies and the adults. Waging a slug war in the spring will allow emerging perennials and vegetables seedlings a chance and cut later populations.Provided by NPA Member Sue Goetz, CPH. Sue is a horticultural consultant and designer, lecturer and freelance writer from Gig Harbor. Visit her web site www.thecreativegardener.com

Summer

  • Do your fall bloomers flop? Do your Sedums sag? - Try cutting back plants such as Asters and tall Sedums (like 'Autumn Joy') by one-half now, before they set bloom buds. They will be shorter, bushier, and less likely to flop this fall.

Fall