Leave the Seedheads Standing
The tidy autumn clear-up removes most of what makes a garden worth looking at in January.
The traditional autumn cut-back leaves a garden looking neat in October and completely blank from November to March, which is when most people actually look at it from a window.
What Standing Stems Give You
Structure under frost, movement in wind, and seed for birds through the hardest months. Sedum, echinacea, rudbeckia, phlomis and every ornamental grass earn their place in winter far more than in summer.
They Also Protect the Crown
Old growth insulates the crown of a perennial through cold snaps. Cutting to the ground in October removes that protection at exactly the point it becomes useful, and the losses show up in spring.
What Should Come Down
Anything diseased — blackspotted rose leaves, mildewed phlox — goes, and it does not go on the compost. Anything that collapses into a wet mat, such as hosta and hardy geranium, is better cleared before it smothers what is underneath.
When to Cut the Rest
Late February or early March, before new growth is far enough up to be damaged. It is one job instead of two, done at a point when there is little else to do, and the garden has earned its keep all winter in the meantime.
