Garden Q&A: Is it too late to cut back grasses and perennials in March?

Whether you're a gardening beginner or expert, Irish Examiner columnist Peter Dowdall has the answer to your questions

Leaving grasses and perennials uncut over winter is not a mistake, it is good garden practice, writes Peter Dowdall. File picture

Question

I never got around to cutting back my grasses and perennials in autumn — is it too late now, or can I still do it?

Answer

It’s not too late at all; in fact, now is actually the better time to do it. 

Leaving grasses and perennials uncut over winter is not a mistake; it is good garden practice. 

The seedheads provide food for finches and other birds right through the cold months, and the hollow stems of dead growth provide shelter for beneficial insects such as ladybirds and overwintering solitary bees. 

You have effectively been running a wildlife habitat without knowing it.

Now, as new growth begins to push up from the base, is exactly the right moment to cut back. 

Get in before that new growth gets too tall, or you risk damaging it. 

Cut herbaceous grasses and perennials down to about ten centimetres, clear away the old material, and you are set for the season.

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