Remove spent foliage in late fall. Cut back leaves to within a few inches from the ground, also in late fall. If you prefer, you may wait until spring to remove leaves, as soon as you see new growth emerging from the ground. Divided daylilies in late summer after they finish blooming.
How To Prune For Winter/Spring/Fall/Summer. It isn't necessary to trim or shape the plant in any way; just cut back Daylilies to remove dead growth. Spent flowers can be removed throughout the growing season. All greenery can be cut back in the fall at the end of the season or early spring before new growth emerges.
Prune lilies in the fall or early spring to remove spent foliage. Wait until the foliage has completely turned brown and limp, and then cut all top growth to the ground. Pruning lilies too early before the foliage has a chance to die back can prevent the bulb from storing adequate energy for winter.
Also, do not cut back hardy perennials like garden mums (Chrysanthemum spp.), anise hyssop (Agastache foeniculum), red-hot poker (Kniphofia uvaria), and Montauk daisy (Nipponanthemum nipponicum). Leave the foliage. It's important to protect the root crowns over winter.
Prune back yellow stalks after the first frost.
Use your shears to cut the yellow foliage stalks down to the ground at a 45-degree angle. Leave about 2 inches (5 cm) of stalk above the soil to mark its location.
Daylilies are best cut back in autumn, once the leaves have had a full growing season on the plant. While there are some evergreen types of daylilies, most are herbaceous, meaning that the leaves die back in the wintertime and sprout anew in the early spring.
Overwintering. As perennials, daylilies do not need a lot of winter care. Growth dies back to the ground at the end of the season, so removing this will prepare them for the next growing season. Remove foliage and any remaining flowers after the first frost and cut stems to a few inches about the ground.
The spent flowers quickly turn to a mushy bloom and then dry over undeveloped buds which can prevent them from opening. Removing the dead blooms keeps this from happening. Also, daylilies which have not been deadheaded will form seed pods.
Daylilies are strong performers in the garden.
If you deadhead them (cut off the old flower stalks at the base) you will get even more blossoms than if you leave the stalks up to form seed pods which over the summer will ripen and burst in the fall. While it isn't necessary, doing it will get you better performance.
Some perennials, like hostas, peonies and daylilies, need to be pruned in fall to avoid winter damage. Plants like these should be pruned after the first few frosts in late fall or early winter. Other perennials like mums and coneflowers are better off being pruned in spring just before new growth comes in.
Although lilies tend may seem like rather exotic plants, they are fairly hardy and will survive winters outdoors in many locations (through zones 5-9). However, gardeners in colder, wetter climates may prefer to lift their lily bulbs for overwintering in a less harsh environment.
We suggest cutting them back in late fall for one main reason: powdery mildew. Phlox is susceptible to powdery mildew, especially when the foliage is wet for prolonged periods. Even mildew-resistant varieties, like those introduced by Proven Winners, have a higher chance of infection during cool and wet fall months.
Don't shear the branches of spring flowering shrubs (Forsythia, Lilac, New Mexico Privet, Spirea, Flowering Quince, and others). These shrubs produce flowers on last year's wood, so removing old growth will reduce or prevent flowering. These plants should be pruned immediately after they are done blooming.
Any gardening expert will tell you, (contrary to what you may believe) that pruning encourages new growth just when the plant is trying to go dormant and new growth doesn't have enough time to harden before the first frost and freezing temperatures hit. Pruning at this time of year will severely weaken the plants.
It's important to cut back foliage in the fall to protect flowering plants from disease and give them a clean start for regrowth as winter starts to turn into spring. However, there are some plants you can keep around through the winter since they benefit wildlife and still offer visual interest for your home.
do lily bulbs multiply and spread? Yes, each bulb will grow new bulbs from the base of the bulb and lilies also produce bulbils that grow in the leaf joints along the stem. They will spread, especially if they are growing in a sheltered spot in fertile well-drained soil.
Cut the plants down to within three to five inches of the soil line. Leaving the plant slightly above the ground has several advantages. First, the remaining foliage helps provide a bit of insulation for the plant through winter.