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No-Flop Perennials

Stakes are a hassle and unsightly and detract from the natural form and shape of our plants, but the good news is that they can usually be avoided.

Use minimal fertilizer, or none at all

Don't overfeed - or better yet, don't feed at all.  That'll just make them taller and more likely to flop.   I only feed perennials that seem to be underperforming in the blooming department, and only once.  (After that, I figure the problem is not enough sun, so I move it.)

Give them enough sun

Give them enough sun.  Plants tell us they're not getting enough sun by growing tall and leaning toward the sun in desperation.  Of course, we can't always give them the perfect site, so read on.

Water deeply

We should all be doing this anyway, for many reasons, but here I'll just repeat that deep watering encourages deep roots, and deep roots are better at holding up the aboveground part of the plant.  Here's more on this extremely important topic.

Prune!

This my favorite because it's so easy and produces such a great result.  Late-blooming perennials are notorious for flopping, but all it takes to prevent that is hacking them back by one-half sometime before July 4 (a last-chance cut-off point that's easy to remember).   When plants are a foot tall, cut them back by half.  Really late-bloomers like asters and mums benefit from a second pruning of this type - as long as it's before the cut-off date.  The photo above shows asters in the foreground just after their haircut.  Purple coneflowers are behind them, already in bloom.

The result is shorter and bushier plants that will bloom a little later, and won't flop!  Brilliant, huh?  The gardening world has Tracy diSabato-Aust to thank for spreading the word about the benefits of pruning perennials, so I'll thank her, too.  Her best-selling book is listed below and is highly recommended.

Good candidates include:

Oh, and another excellent time to hack back by one-half is when you're moving perennials that have already achieved some height, even if your'e moving it to a nice sunny area.  Those newly disturbed roots simply can't hold up tall stems, and reducing their height gives the poor plant a fighting chance to survive being moved at a time of the year when it really should be left undisturbed (but hey, I sometimes do it myself).

Divide them

It's especially the case with tall sedums that after a couple of years they become so large that they flop outwardly from the center.  But they couldn't be easier to divide. In fall or as they're reappearing in early spring just lift the whole plant and slice through the root mass with an old steak knife (my favorite pruning tool), then plant the new pieces.  Freebies!

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