Garden Muses: A Small Toronto Gardening Services Company Blog: Summerhill, Toronto Spring Garden Clean Up

8.5.16

Summerhill, Toronto Spring Garden Clean Up

Or: should I leave the Pee Gee Hydrangea flowers on over winter?

Not exactly an existential question but sometimes clients ask me this and I always reply firmly and with utmost conviction "errr, it depends..." It depends on whether you want to see the old flowers collect snow. It depends on whether you want to deal with them the next spring. And so on...

Summerhill Toronto spring garden cleanup
before by Paul Jung Gardening Services

When I asked the owner of this Summerhill neighbourhood garden if she liked seeing the old flowers, her answer was along the lines of "at first I did then I didn't." What this means this fall when I ask her again whether I should remove the flowers is anyone's guess.

This spring cleanup (shown by these pictures anyway as there was a lot of work in the backyard not shown) dealt mainly with removing the Pee Gee hydrangea flowers, cutting back the Russian Sage (Perovskia atriplicifolia) and the Hortensia (Hydrangea macrophylla) stems that were killed off over the winter. Flowering-wise, this front garden is at its best in mid-late summer so I've asked (begged?) the client to plant more spring bulbs.