Perennial flowers fill your garden with gorgeous, colorful blooms, year after year.
However, some perennials are better at surviving our Northern Utah winters than others. To make sure yours live on to beautify your landscape as long as possible, take some time for these important fall care tasks for perennial plants.
Divide and Replant
To encourage new growth and rejuvenate your perennial flowers – or to boost the number of flowering plants in your garden – divide and replant your perennials every few years.
In Northern Utah, plants usually need to be divided and replanted by November or early December, or about six weeks before the first hard frost.
Cut Back Some Perennial Plants
Cut back any perennial plants with disease or insect infestations, to reduce the chance of a problem during the next growing season.
Healthy perennials can also be cut back at this time, leaving just a few inches of stems. You may prefer to leave some ornamental plants, or those that offer a food resource for birds, standing over the winter.
Our garden center staff can help you determine which of your perennials may need cutting back.
Collect Seeds from Perennial Flowers
If you’d like to reseed any of the plants in your perennial garden, fall is the time to collect the seeds. Cut the seed heads from your plants, separate the seeds out and let them dry out thoroughly. Store them in a paper envelope until planting weather arrives.
Cage Tall Perennial Flowers
If you get a lot of wind during the winter months, or if you have any tall perennial plants that you don’t plan on cutting back, you may want to support them with wide-mesh wire fencing or plant cages. If you’re worried about heavy snow damaging your perennial plants, you could also install windbreaks.
Add Mulch to Your Garden Beds
Mulch will help insulate the roots of your perennial flowers during the cold weather months. In addition, fall mulching will help protect perennials from the winter freeze-and-thaw cycles, which can heave them up out of the soil. Organic mulch is best, as it will help to boost soil quality as it breaks down over time.
Apply an even layer of about two to three inches. Any more than that could smother and kill your perennial plants.
For expert advice on seasonal gardening tasks, take a trip to Salt Lake City’s favorite local plant nursery. In northern Utah, Millcreek Gardens is your go-to source for helpful advice on how to keep plants growing healthy, strong and beautiful all year long.
Our knowledgeable and friendly staff can answer all of your questions about fall care for landscaping trees, shrubs, ornamental grasses and other perennial plants. To learn more, or to browse our many perennial flowers, head to Millcreek Gardens today.