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Cutting Back Foliage

19 years ago

Just wondered about the best practice regarding cutting back iris foliage in the fall. Some of my irises have yellow/brown leaves that I assume are safe to cut. Others, however, appear to have healthy green leaves. May these be cut safely or should they be left alone. I'm in northern VA and we've already had a couple of hard freezes.

Thanks

Filbert

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Comments (2)

iris_gal
19 years ago
There are two thoughts on this topic. I am one who only pulls away the outer dead leaves. That way the existing healthy foliage continues to feed the rhizomes.

Others like to trim back all foliage to 6" or so for a neater appearance. Some do this during summer or fall.

I would avoid radical trimming on a new iris or one that is a slow grower.
morgang
19 years ago
So glad I read this! I guess I'll have an experiment to report on next spring: I chopped a patch of iris down to around 5-6 inches, BEFORE I read somewhere that I shouldn't have done that at all. But maybe I didn't ruin them, I'll be able to compare how they do with the patches I left alone.
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