The MGS Forum
Plants for mediterranean gardens => Perennials => Topic started by: pamela on July 09, 2012, 04:42:28 PM
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I planted several catmints Nepeta racemosa 'Walter Low' and Nepeta tuberosa this year. I don't know much about the pruning of them. The N. tuberosa was fantastic but now has long brown spikes. When should I prune it ready for next year? The N. racemosa is still flowering. I find information on the web about pruning is mostly for non mediterranean climates. Any help greatly appreciated
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I snip mine over to get rid of the dead flower stalks and scruffy shoots any time during the summer when I can bear to go out in the heat. Have you got a pair of what I can only describe as half scissors with a spring for dead heading? I find it very much more handy that using secateurs.
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Thanks Fleur...do you cut them back to the ground at any stage?
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My Nepeta tuberosa tends to be damaged by the winds in early winter, so I cut it back to it's lowest leaves then.
My Nepeta Walkers Low is still looking lovely, but it will have to be cut back hard soon, as it has alliums and specie tulips under it and they will be up very soon.
It grows back steadily, just in time to cover the dying tulip and allium leaves later on.
Daisy :)
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Pruning/cutting back/ tidying up is often a tricky subject as even within Mediterranean climate ares the conditions can be very different. Sometimes I discover the best time to do things is learnt by trial and error. If the suggested time does not work very well for me I try a different time. This is OK with some things but if you only have one, hard found, specimin not easy to do :-\ When reading advice from Forum members I always try to take into consideration where they are gardening. :)
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I've grown WALKER'S LOW and plenty of other catmints many years. I cut them all back during winter when the old growth has died back. I try to do it before the emerging new growth has begun to elongate. I treat N. tuberosa this way too. The only ones I have found miffy in our Med climate garden are the several white :( and 'pink' >:( forms which i found are not reliably perennial nor very convincing colours.