Shearing creeping phlox

16 years ago

Hi all,

I've got 15+ large clumps of creeping phlox that I like to shear every year to maintain density and to keep them from expanding too much. Usually I use gardening sissors but the clumps are keeping getting bigger and I keep making more clumps so I'm looking for an easier way to shear them. Does anyone have any suggestions for tools? Has anyone tried using electric shears like you can see at the following link?

http://www.blackanddecker.com/ProductGuide/CategoryOverview.aspx?cPath=1498.1671

Thanks,

Steve

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Comments (6)

triciae
16 years ago
Steve, I had those exact same sheers. They didn't work. Stuff got stuck in between the blades & it jammed. YMMV

I also prune my creeping phlox. I sheer it into ovals, kidney shapes, rounds, etc. to vary the look of the clumps & do it the same as you...with hand clippers. I just grab a fist full & chop away until I'm satisfied. It is a bit of a PITA but, you're right, it keeps them from getting scraggley.

Please let us know if you find something easier that works.

Tricia
steve22802
Original Author
16 years ago
Thanks for the feedback Tricia, I think I'll stay away from the electric shears. I wonder how manual hedge clippers would work? Like these:

http://www.growtech.com/hedgeshears.htm

It would leave little bits of plant material all over but I bet I could use my ShopVac to suck up all the little pieces once I'm finished clipping. Has anyone out there tried hedge shears on phlox?

- Steve
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patrick_nh
16 years ago
Not hedge shears, but I tried a weed wacker last year on my large patch, about 20 X 20, basically because it's all that I had that would do the job without taking hours, or so I thought. It was a nightmare from several perspectives. First, bits and pieces flying everywhere, covering myself, the walk and the side of the house. Clean up made the job longer than if I had sat and did it by hand in the first place. Obviously it was the wrong tool for the job, and it missed a good deal of woody growth that grew low along the ground. Second, it opened up the previously thick mat enough to allow grasses and other weeds to get a foot hold, and now I have them coming up this year, through my previously solid blue mat. I didn't need to control growth, I actually encourage it in my situation, and I only did it to stimulate growth, because that's what the books say that you're "supposed" to do. There were no signs of open plants, nor of straggly growth, but after 7 years without doing it, I figured that it was time, again, because of "the books". Lesson learned. Never again against my better judgement, and certainly not unless I'm seeing the problems that the "solution" is supposed to cure.

Anyway, I hope that you find the tool for the job. It's definately not a weed wacker. Suggestion: why not give in to the ever expanding plants, and instead of restricting them every year, encourage a large solid mat? I look forward to a lot of plants coming back every year, but this one in such a mass planting in particular. Part of the fun is the planning and waiting for it to get to the eventual size that I've determined. I've started a second, multi-variety patch.
two_munkeys
16 years ago
Don't use a lawnmower either or you'll get the same result as Patrick got with his weed wacker (with regard to the plant, not the mess).

I let mine go for about 6 years and they just looked terrible. Then last year, I decided I had to do something and "the books" said to trim. Since they were such huge patches (and close to the lawn), I just ran the mower over them. It wasn't pretty.

It still isn't. After the flowering, I'm taking cuttings to start fresh and digging up the rest.
patrick_nh
16 years ago
That was actually my first choice, and the suggestion offered by one of the sources that I read. As my mower is a ride on, I didn't want to be running that over my bed, and before I borrowed a push mower, I used the next "best" thing available to me at the time. Live and learn.
steve22802
Original Author
16 years ago
Well I borrowed both an electric hedge trimmer and a pair of manual hedge shears this afternoon and gave them both a try. The electric hedge clippers sort of half worked but the stems that I want to clip don't always stand up enough for the electric clippers to cut. Snipping with the big hedge shears worked better for me. The main problem for me with a large scale tool is that my plox is starting to creep into neighboring plants and I don't want to clip into the neighbors when shearing the plox. So maybe for me the best thing is to use the hedge shears in the middle of the clumps and then continue to use the garden sissors along the edges.

I think my dream machine for this task would be something like a Flowbee for gardeners! Ha, ha, ha! ;)

http://www.flowbee.com

- Steve