Hman, As I read the article, although ambiguous of the cause, the dessication doesn't necessarily come from the leaves. My thought is the dessication comes from the longer canes. I think the longer canes have more difficulty pushing water though all that length when the canes are frozen. I've noticed the canes on my Triple Crown seem to die out at the ends first, which would be in accordance with that theory. Also my leaves seem dead by the time the bitterest cold arrives, which would seem to imply stripping leaves wouldn't help much. After reading the article, I wanted to try pruning my canes last Dec., but never got to it. I'm sure this will result in some dead canes this Spring, as is normally the case. Still, I wonder if the dead Spring canes will equal the material I would have pruned off in Dec. Nourse Farms are some pretty experienced folks, so my guess is a person would be better off following their recs. and pruning in Dec. Perhaps I can get it done next year.

I don't like cutting things back too hard in fall, if they stay green or have the good foliage, like grasses. Many of your perrenials will brown up with a couple frosts and regular cold, like peonies and the sedum, salvia, lily stems. Then you can cut them down. I leave some stalk height as markers, my garden is quite thickly planted. Morning glory is an annual, I would pull it down whenever I got tired of it, green or dried, for neater winter appearance. Cut it off at the ground. Clematis is another climer, but a perennial. I leave alone in fall, mine stay green most of the winter, give birds shelter. They get trimmed in early spring, down to a couple feet tall. Clematis do better if pruned heavily, and I want them cut before the birds return to nest in them. Lovely flowers in many shapes colors. Three types, early, mid, late flowering, to bloom at different times of the season. They might be something you would like too. I tried leaving my dried sedum for winter interest, just didn't like it in winter so I cut it about halfway thru. Just was ugly. My grasses were pretty nice over winter, but I cut them back VERY early, late Feb or March to prevent the leaves and mess you mentioned. I think the big grasses need a bit of cover to protect the clump over the coldest times. I wouldn't cut grasses in fall, but that is me. Lavendar needs to be left alone for winter. You will probably get some die-back anyway, don't want to kill the plant with no branches to spare. You should trim it in spring, just when the new growth is starting, to know what is alive. Bell flower I just cut the flower spikes off, same with Liantris, by which I think you mean for the "roman candle flower". Leaves help me locate them for spring work. Not sure what goosenecks are, Gooseneck Loostrife? I would cut that down after it dries out when frosted. The other plants I am not recognizing from descriptions. Sage the herb, is tough, will come thru winter, but the woody stems don't need trimming back. I killed mine doing that. Just trim it on the ends, new growth, next spring for neater appearance. You can save your yard leaves, Oak are the best. Don't EVER burn them. Run the mower thru them to shred them up, use that for mulch over winter. Returns a lot of nutrients to soil, makes a nice mulch and protective layer. I would fertilize in spring, not now because plants would grow better, get winter damaged in cold. If you have extra leaves, you can bag them up for spring use or start a small compost pile for next year. Even just mowing the leaves onto the lawn, is better for the lawn, than wasting the leaves. Like a free fertilizer treatment. Small pieces of leaves don't pack or clot up like full sized leaves. I would not save Black Walnut or Butternut leaves since they contain jugalone, poison for some plants. I don't think I would do much shrub trimming now. Hollies get wind-burned over winter, dry out in cold wind. The small evergreens might benefit from a little shaping, but not massive trimming so late in season. I would trim and shape both of these in early spring, April. That time would let you remove the winter damages, not be hard on newly awakened plant. You might want to start a Journal, keep track of stuff for yourself. See what works or doesn't, for YOU, plants you have. My mom loves to have everything tidied up for fall, makes it easier for her in spring. Looks kind of stark to me, in late fall. I have some fall and spring work because I have different plants, different location in the state. Journal can be very simple, some dates, what worked or failed, just a tracking device for your notes. Easier than trying to keep it in your head. Good luck, sounds like your garden is working well for you. Kale are great winter plants, along with pansies, love the colder temps. An idea for the bare spots of fall and winter.

Hi Karl! Nice to see another Austinite here. Thirty plants is not too bad, LOL. I've rooted a few cuttings over winter, but most won't root until spring. They usually need either extra bottom heat or close top light. My NOID red cutting from Hawaii surprised me by rooting under the kitchen sink light last winter. But I guess 12 hours of light a day and 70 degrees will do the trick :) It is possible to store your big trees bare-root if they're over 3-4 years old. I did this one winter and the tree bounced back fine. Took a bit longer to grow back the feeder roots so it had a slow start, but then this one is slow every year even if it's in a pot.

Diane, looks like Houzz let Joey post a pic, but I'll try, too. These are for testing purposes only because you've seen them. We may lose the red maple. It's a mere shadow of itself this year. The arborist said he doesn't think it's pests or diseased, and we should wait a year before having it removed. I would miss it as it's the better of the two, but, on the other hand, removal would make it possible to grow something in the front. I love it in the winter the most. Joey, that's not just a dusting! That's a good snowfall. Do you do anything to protect your roses? Geeze, April seems so far away. I'm adding the Queen to my spring list. I'd never given it a thought until I saw yours and read your recommendation. Can't pass up on a rose that beautiful and that hardy. Kristine, I've had roses do that because of snow, never rain. I'm so sorry. Beverly was one of your most gorgeous, but Marc C will be a beautiful replacement.