Cindy Stockett - Horticulture

"The Chelsea Chop"

Handout provided by Cindy 6/13/2022
 

Cut the plants back by a third or half to delay bloom and limit size.

"The Chelsea chop (so called because it is usually carried out at the end of May, coinciding with the RHS Chelsea Flower Show) is a pruning method by which you limit the size and control the flowering season of many herbaceous plants."

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• pennstemon

• phlox

• campanula (bellflower)

Benefits:  Leggy perennials tend to not be so floppy as they grow shorter
                    Delayed flowering will extend or stagger bloom times

 

Good candidates for the Chelsea Chop:
 

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• asters

• upright sedums

• heleniums

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• goldenrod

• shasta daisy

• rudbeckia

Method 1

Chop back clumps of perennials by one-third to one-half using shears. This will delay the flowering until later in summer and keep plants shorter and more compact.

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Method 2

Cut only half the stems back on a plant, which will extend the season of flowering rather than delay it.

"Garden chores for April"

Things to Do...
 

• Weeding - stay on it!

• Mulching

• Dig and Divide (donate some to the Plant Sale!)

• Plant trees & shrubs (don't forget to keep well watered over summer)

• Plant summer blubs

• get ready for dahlias

• set out cool season vegetables

• bait for slugs - use cheap beer to create traps

"Garden Soil Choices"

Presented March 14, 2022
 

Stop using non-renewable peat moss!
 

Say yes to using COIR! (natural coconut fiber)
 

Crape Myrtle Lagerstroemia
 

"Small Trees for the Pacific Northwest"

Presented February 14, 2022
 

Serviceberry Amelanchier
 

Fringe tree -Chiananthus virginicus

Flowering Dogwood - Cherokee Sunset
 

Hellebores" presented 12/13/2021