The Well-Tended Perennial Garden: Planting & Pruning Techniques

Tracy DiSabato-Aust has devoted years to studying how to plan and care for perennials so that a garden can be a real showplace with a minimum of maintenance. The first key to success lies in good site planning and plant selection that emphasizes each plant's strengths. But what is most important is learning how and when to prune and shape perennials to produce more flowers, encourage lush new growth, discourage pests, stagger bloom times, and maintain vigorous health. Amazingly, this is the first book that has covered this essential topic in detail, although books on pruning woody plants abound. Deadheading, pinching, cutting back, thinning, disbudding, and deadleafing are among the techniques in the gardener's arsenal that are thoroughly explained and illustrated. There is also an extensive encyclopedia of important perennial species and cultivars that clearly explains the pruning and maintenance needs of each plant. Wonderfully useful appendices offer a month-by-month planting and maintenance schedule for the typical perennial garden and lists of plants with specific pruning requirements.