I know it's early to ask .... but here I go . I planted a few Coreopsis
and Russian Sage last year . Do I have to cut them back in spring? If so
, how much ?
Thanks ! Dreaming of spring !
Rosie z5

I planted a few Coreopsis
and Russian Sage last year . Do I have to cut them back in spring? If so
, how much ?

I cut mine all the way back after the last freeze (z4/5).
sed5555

Go find an ax, sharpen it and hide near the Russian sage. When it's not
looking, attack! Seriously, Russian sage is a wonderful shade of blue, but
it grows all over. I started using a cage on mine a few years back and have
resigned myself to spring pruning. Otherwise, it wisll sprawl horizontally
instead of growing upright. Even with the cage, I still have to prune. It's
a lot of work, but the color is worth the effort. I do have it isolated
where it won't sow itself amongst other flowers. As for coreopsis, that too
is a spreading plant. I got cross with a group once and pitchforked it up
and in a fit of pique flung it where I wanted it without even loosening the
soil. (I'm normally not that abusive with my plants, but I did not expect
this bunch to fight being uprooted.) The entire clump survived nicely. If I
were just starting it, I think I'd cage it underground--like bamboo--but
even then it self-sows. Because the many varieties look good in bloom, I
have several clumps in my big perennial bed and simply pull up what I don't
want. If you shear it after it blooms, it may bloom twice in a season. Good
luck! And watch out for that Russian sage! Eugenia, zone 6, two towns west
of Boston
"rosemarie face" wrote in message
...
I know it's early to ask .... but here I go . I planted a few Coreopsis
and Russian Sage last year . Do I have to cut them back in spring? If so
, how much ?
Thanks ! Dreaming of spring !
Rosie z5

it does well planted on sandy berms that are never waterered. then it stands up and
behaves. I pulled mine out as much as I love it ... it was trying to eat the rest of
the garden. Ingrid

"harrison" wrote:
Go find an ax, sharpen it and hide near the Russian sage. When it's not
looking, attack!


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In article ,
(rosemarie face) wrote:

Thanks .... but it still didn't answer how to prune Russian Sage and
Coreopsis ! If they self seed and spread that's fine with me . I have
lots of space in my garden . So how exactly do I prune them ???
Thanks ! Rosie z5 IN


Russian sage can be trimmed back to within a foot of the ground & will
grow back rapidly. But I'm not trimming mine much at all this spring, so I
can see what happens with the old stems, would be nice if they bulked up
into wood, but the usual recommendation is to trim them back just before
spring & let them start over.

The commonly offered coreopsis "Moonbeam" is sterile meaning it will never
self-seed, but can be dug up & divided every few years. Other varieties
will probably self-seed, maybe even do so aggressively. I'd let them die
back naturally in their own good time, unless they just looked too
homely-dead from winter & I couldn't stand to look at the dead bits. When
back in bloom "pruning" can just mean pinching off spent flowers, though
for Moonbeam I don't even do that & it blooms clear to autumn even without
deadheading. "Zagreb" might benefit more from deadheading.

-paghat the ratgirl

--
"Of what are you afraid, my child?" inquired the kindly teacher.
"Oh, sir! The flowers, they are wild," replied the timid creature.
-from Peter Newell's "Wild Flowers"
See the Garden of Paghat the Ratgirl: http://www.paghat.com/

rosemarie face wrote:

Thanks .... but it still didn't answer how to prune Russian Sage and
Coreopsis ! If they self seed and spread that's fine with me . I have
lots of space in my garden . So how exactly do I prune them ???
Thanks ! Rosie z5 IN



If you do a google search from last fall, I think I remember it being
here, you'll find the you prune it in the spring 1" above the last
living bud.
The local garden club put in a couple dozen plants and everyone in town
wanted to know what kind of "Lavander" it was. Having the garden next to
thiers I have to field a lot of questions about the plant.

Kevin

Thanks a lot for the answers!!!
Rosie z5