PERENNIALS > HEMEROCALLIS > PRUNING

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HEMEROCALLIS GUIDES

orange flowering daylilies growing outside in a field

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daylily are spectacular flowering plants that can add an alien and interesting feel to your garden with picayune fear .

However , if you need to keep them in cheque , you may choose to cut back your daylily .

yellow flowers from a daylily plant that are starting to turn brown at the edges growing outdoors

“ Hemerocallis do n’t have to be ‘ pruned ’ but I believe the best practice is to cut down all remaining leafage and scape prior to spring development to about 4 in , ” shares Paula Dyason , from Strictly Daylilies .

“ Although this can be done anytime , it is best done from late autumn to late winter so it does not intervene with the flower time of year . ”

There are two cardinal things to think about when it make out to rationalize these perennials :

using a pair of secateurs to prune a leaf from a daylily plant growing outside in mulched ground

These step are excuse in more item below .

1) Remove Spent Flowers

An item-by-item blossom on a daylily will , as the name suggest , blossom for only a single day .

However , each plant will produce more flowers in ready successiveness , so you will be capable to enjoy blossom over a period of a number of weeks over the summertime months .

To keep a daylily plant flowering well , it is a respectable idea to absent the totality of a stem down to the background as soon as it has polish off flowering altogether .

Unless you wish well to call for seed from a plant , removing the finished unfolding stem ( deadheading ) is a good idea .

This is because this will encourage the plant to send up new inflorescence stem , so it should lead to blooms over a longer stop .

Removing spent stem will also ensure that the plant does not waste its Department of Energy on seminal fluid production when this is not required or desired .

Simply take a clean , shrewd yoke of secateurs or horticulture knife and turn out the stems off right at the base .

2) Cut Back Faded Foliage

The only other pruning job for day lily is an optional one .

In fall , at the last of the season or in the former spring , you’re able to skip back sometime , faded foliage to neaten up your beds or borders .

“ wretched - looking foliage after all efflorescence is over can also be cut down to encourage healthy new growth , ” says Paula .

However , this is not of any benefit to the plant and is purely for aesthetic understanding .

“ It ’s important to note that Hemerocallis scapes can not be ‘ Chelsea Chopped ’ to encourage more or by and by blooming . ”

Steve Amy from The American Daylily Society explains why he does n’t rationalize back the faded foliage on his daylily :

“ I result the foliage on the plants through the winter calendar month when the industrial plant go abeyant .

“ The foliation acts as a mulch to plow the plant root over the abrasive month .

“ I then prune the erstwhile beat leaf in the spring and the daylily will sprout new leaf on the devotee itself afterwards ” .

So , if you may live with a little messiness , consider leave behind the honest-to-goodness folio in place , especially over winter , as these render useful shelter for a stove of insects and other wildlife .

It is a good musical theme to avoid taking steps which will make your garden less of a oasis for the many other creatures who partake your space , so with this and other perennial , I advocate that you allow for blow over leafage in post wherever possible .