Manual hedge shears work well on a lot of perennials and I use them on hakone grass. I think that I have heard of folks buying old serrated knives or even those electric carving knives from the 70s at Goodwill or Salvation Army, bundling the grasses tightly to make a firm cylinder, and then cutting through the old stems with that. Or if you are in a safe area, burning works well. Around here one is allowed to burn if snow completely covers the ground, and we are supposed to get 3" of sleet in the next 24 or so hours, so you might have a small window to do this if the rules around you are similar and it's in a safe spot to do so. Probably not though if you are in a developed or built up area.

I'm definitely going to try the manual hedge shears. I remember those electric carving knives. [g]. We used to have one, I don't know what happened to it. We didn't enjoy using it for carving meat. No, we're not allowed to burn in our community for sure. Babs, do you use scissors for some things? What kind of scissors do you use?

There was a great thread on tools for garden cleanup on the perennial forum a year or two ago. It's where I got the idea of using manual hedge shears for cleaning up the perennials. I've enjoyed rereading it today. I don't like the noise of power tools in general, though I do have a strimmer on steroids that has a couple of saw blades that are useful for aiding in my fight against invasives in the woods.

Share your fall cleanup shortcuts

I use scissors for harvesting herbs and have a pair of dedicated scissors for that which were a present, quite sharp and light weight with comfy handles. I mostly don't use scissors in the garden, however, since I have arthritis starting in my hands and tendonitis that makes most scissors uncomfortable to use much.

That's probably where I got the idea too. [g]. Because I bought a new pair about then. Thanks for the link. I also don't use power tools if I can help it. Sorry about the arthritis and tendonitis. No fun for a gardener!