Caring for perennials in winter is not as simple as cutting everything to the ground once the temperatures drop. According to Thom Peck, the purchasing manager and certified horticulturist at Johnson’s Landscaping Service, winter maintenance depends on the type of perennial and on the homeowner’s goals for appearance, wildlife support, and long-term plant health.
There is no single correct approach. Some homeowners want their garden completely cleaned up and ready for bed. Others enjoy the seed heads on ornamental grasses or appreciate the winter activity of birds. Still others choose to leave everything standing because it supports the natural growth cycle, and many native insects lay eggs in perennial stems. This option offers important ecological benefits even though it is not always the most attractive.
Most Johnson’s clients prefer at least a partial winter clean-up, often keeping the seed heads for interest while removing what is necessary for plant health and garden neatness. Thom explains that the right method depends on understanding how each perennial grows. Perennials grow from clumps, mounds, rosettes, or underground rhizomes.
Maintaining Hosta in Winter
Hosta is a clumping perennial with wide, shovel-shaped leaves and only a small bloom spike in summer.
Its winter care is straightforward once the first hard freeze arrives. After freezing, the leaves collapse and detach from the roots, making removal as simple as pulling them up by the stem.
Removing the leaves prevents overwintering pests from nesting under the soggy foliage and helps prevent disease that could affect new leaves in spring. A cleaned bed also looks much neater and sets the stage for a fresh season of growth.
Larger hosta clumps can be divided every few years, though this is typically done in spring.
Caring for Rosette-Forming Perennials
Rosette perennials such as rudbeckia and echinacea form a circle of leaves that sits close to the ground. From this rosette, upright stalks grow each season and almost always produce flowers. These blooms die back at the end of the growing year.
Throughout the season, gardeners remove spent blooms to encourage secondary and even tertiary flowers. As winter approaches, the entire plant begins to look dry and finished.
Thom recommends cutting the stalks at their base, leaving the rosette intact so it can continue feeding the plant until a hard freeze. This task is usually done at the beginning of December. Cutting back the stalks discourages overwintering pests and improves appearance. If the stalks are left standing, they turn black from top to bottom, creating an unattractive presence in the garden.
How to Maintain Mound-Forming Perennials
Helleborus, often in the form of Christmas rose and Lenten rose, is a mound-forming evergreen perennial that blooms remarkably early, sometimes even before the daffodils.
Thom appreciates them for many reasons, especially because deer tend to leave them alone.
Their spear-shaped leaves can flop to the ground during a freeze but recover a bit once the temperatures rise. Maintenance for helleborus is a spring task, unlike other perennials where the bulk of the maintenance is in winter. When the plant begins blooming, usually around Valentine’s Day, the older leaves are removed. This clears space for new growth and highlights the early blossoms that make helleborus such a reliable winter-to-spring transition plant.
Winter Care for Rhizome-Based Perennials
Some perennials grow from rhizomes and carry their energy reserves in these underground structures. Thom describes their leaves as lance-shaped and explains that they continue feeding the plant until cut back.
At the beginning of winter, they are trimmed to about 2 or 3 inches above the ground. If left long through the cold months, their tips often turn brown since the plant can no longer push moisture effectively to the ends. By late winter, the untouched leaves look ragged and tired, which is why cutting them earlier helps maintain a cleaner garden and supports healthier spring growth.
A Conversation Makes All the Difference
Winter perennial care varies widely, and choosing the right approach can feel overwhelming. Thom Peck is always glad to walk clients through their landscape design, explain what each perennial needs, and tailor a plan that fits the homeowner’s priorities. Whether you prefer a tidy winter garden or want to support birds and beneficial insects, Johnson’s Landscaping Service can help you maintain a healthy, beautiful perennial bed all year long.
