Only remove dead or browning leaves on iris. Never cut back green leaves. These leaves are storing for next years bloom.

Mike G

hi alison,

if i'm lifting, dividing, and cleaning out iris (an august chore if there ever was one) i usually trim back the fans then. mostly to make it easier on the plants' root systems
that have been disrupted. i also trim back my siberian
iris in august to neaten up my flower beds. but the later in the year you do it the better it is for the plnats since the leaves are making food for storage. (but i usually mow my day lilies when they look 'ratty'-- nothing kills them)

as for thyme, sage, & lavender, you need to wait until spring
before trimming them back-- and only to remove winter kill and to shape them up (besides your supposed to be clipping them all season long as you cook). every time i do it in the fall i kill my plants. you have to see where the new grow is coming from before youi trim.

Bill

I've been trying to keep on top of removing the dying foliage on the iris. It seems they mat down around the roots and collect debris, and I'm paranoid about getting any kind of rhizome fungus.

I'll wait till it's a bit colder to cut the foliage into fans, but I definitnely want to remember to do it this year. I haven't in years past, and the leaves have trapped every tree leaf in a block radius -- leaving a soggy mess on the iris rhizomes all winter long!

I've never really been much for cutting the herbs, Bill, but plants have stretched out and grown over the others, like waves on the beach. Unfortunately (especially with the lavender) these leads to long, grey, dead looking stems, with a fringe of green at the top.

I'm experimenting; cutting some back severely, some just a little, some not at all. Advice and experiments are all we have to go one as gardeners, isn't it?

Thanls for the advice!