Farmers Weekly Review

Finally, Mother Nature is at least thinking about turning up the thermostat, but we have had such cool mornings — Into the low 40s on several days — that I have waited to address the Chelsea Chop.

No, it isn’t some new pork chop marinade, although a pork chop sounds good right now. The Chelsea Chop refers to an underutilized practice by gardeners that helps to get the best look and use from perennials and annuals.

The Chelsea Chop was so named for the very famous Chelsea Garden Show in England. The name “chop” refers to when English gardeners should prune their perennials, which over there is mid-May. But we do not have England’s climate and seem to be moving further and further away as we get hotter and drier.

That is of, course, except right now, when Mother Nature here in the Midwest decided to flip our May and June weather back to April temperatures, particularly at night. So just what is this chop anyway, and why do we do it and if it is such a good thing, why haven’t we heard of this much?

The Chelsea Chop is the practice of cutting perennials back by half or more in May or June. Did you just gasp? Did I actually say, cut your perennials in half? I did. And for a good reason.

I bet you have had several cases of “flopsy mopsies,” and you didn’t think you could do anything about it. Or you noticed in other people’s gardens, that the perennials just look more floriferous or tidier than they are in yours.

“Flopsy mopsies” are the perennial plant problem that occurs when perennials grow too tall and either fall over, get powdery mildew or “ugly ankles” (where the lower leaves start to brown or crisp up and become unsightly). The worst-case scenario is when perennial plants actually flop over and crack off at the base, leaving sections root-less.

Well, no more! Utilizing the Chelsea Chop method not only prevents the flop or eventual loss of part of your perennials, but it can also help to extend the bloom time of many perennials and encourages bushier well-balanced growth. In certain cases, it can delay or prevent the onset of disease.

By removing the top growth, just like in any other pruning, the plant redirects its energies to producing more side stems, which eventually become flowering stems as well, ultimately creating a fuller, more floriferous, yet compact plant.

By cutting the plants in half or even in half and half again a little later in the season (like early July) it keeps plants that grow too tall, too fast a more balanced geometry: not so top heavy. Also, in the case of perennials that could be rebloomers, like catmint, if you shear it after the first flowering, you can get two or three more times of those beautiful blue blossoms.

The most interesting effect of the Chelsea Chop is reduced disease in perennials. By selective mid-season pruning you can increase air and light circulation that can help to decrease particularly the “fungus among us” diseases like powdery mildew.

So where to start? First, know which plants are best suited for this pruning technique. Think plants that typically bloom July and beyond — Garden Phlox, Bee Balm, Coneflower, Black-eyed Susans, Asters, Perennial Sunflowers, Joe Pye Weed, Catmint, Perennial Salvias, and most definitely, Autumn Joy Sedum.

So many gardeners lament that just when the flowering heads of their Autumn Joy Sedum start to bud, they find that the entire plant (due to its succulent stems and little root system) look like someone did a Karate Chop right down the middle, and the sedum is left lying on the ground split in several pieces.

Some gardeners have resorted to tying up their Autumn Joy Sedums with twine or pantyhose; not exactly a Better Homes and Gardens look, is it? But if you instead employ the Chelsea Chop, and cut your Autumn Joys in half right now, they will be so much better for it.

Also, these plants are so easy to root, you can literally take the tops you cut off and stick them in the soil, and you will get a whole new plant.

The whole problem is just taking that leap of faith to get started. Once you get over the fear of the first chop, which I have to tell you for me felt like my mom cutting my bangs when I was 6 years old, you will find the results are spectacular and you can start experimenting with more perennials.

There is an excellent book that is completely devoted to this subject by Traci DeSabato Aust called “The Well-Tended Perennial Garden.”

Traci took years of experimenting with all sorts of perennials and created this primer. In the back of the book, she has an encyclopedia of perennials, with detailed instructions on what she found to be the optimum use and timing of the Chelsea Chop for gardens here. I find it the most useful book on perennials I have ever owned.

You don’t have to be very particular on the chopping method, just a sharp set of pruning shears will do the trick. And no concern of cutting at a specific node above or below a bud. This simple pruning triggers the plant to use what nature hardwired into it. Try to cut me back? I will show you by coming back stronger with even more of me (flowers that could ultimately become seed.

I will give my own favorite example of success using this process. I have several types of Bee Balm. They are a palate of different colors and sizes, but each one flowers all at the same time, giving me a good few weeks of bloom followed by the omnipresent case of powdery mildew.

So, I took the plunge. I cut my bee balms in half at the beginning of June, and then the front half of each clump, I cut in half again at the beginning of June. I had a beautiful, rounded mound with triple the flowers I have ever had and most surprisingly no powdery mildew because my prunings helped to increase air and light circulation — the nemesis of all fungal diseases.

So, give the Chelsea Chop a try. You will be glad you did, and so will your plants and the pollinators!