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.

Rookie If you live in a cold winter climate you'll get winter dieback on most modern and tender roses. You can't undo the pruning so you'll have to live with the results next spring. Any new dieback can just be pruned off. You should provide some winter protection in cold winter climates to at least protect the bud union and base of the bushes. In warmer climates, premature pruning shouldn't have much of an affect on the bushes except to promote new growth if conditions warrant. All but the tenderest of roses are very forgiving. This is how you learn, but in the future ask before you act as you can't undo damage already done!

New root growth occurs in spring when dormant stem buds open and send hormones to the root tips which prompt them to elongate. Roots pruned back in fall (or later) may be expected to more or less just sit there until spring, when they get the chemical signal from the buds. Existing, intact roots elongate in fall, after the winter buds are set. 60% of the annual increase in root length occurs at this time. This is one of the reasons fall is the best time to plant cold hardy stock. If you catch a particular specimen just before it produces the annual fall root push you can have it take hold of the ground on the new site quite nicely - as long as you did not have to correct any root deformities at planting.

Skybird, She was a beauty, may she rest in peace, or at least crackle nicely in the fireplace! I'm not positive but have come to think it was a Scots pine, pinus sylvestris. Your new baby is a pinus cembra 'Chalet', chosen for it's grace, narrow width and need for 20 inches of precip a year. It'll be much happier in an irrigated lawn than most pines. It's grafted onto limber pine, (pinus flexilis) rootstock. I am for sure a Tree person, but am still a grasshopper with much to learn. I'm still thrashing around in the bindweed, lol! We all have our special niche or area of interest when it comes to plants, that's why I love this group. Much of what I'm spouting here comes from info gleaned from others, peeps at DBG, Planet Conifer on FB and Houzz's Conifer and Trees forums. I'm just sharing to let you know that although our conifers have taken a beating this past 6 months and look like heck, they might still make it. OT time: Yesterday the better half took my shovels in to be sharpened. That's awesome! Now I'm sitting here, shovel-less, wondering if I could plant a tree with a hand trowel! It's a good thing it's probably too wet to dig. Glad to have you back, Dan. Please stay away from the Site That Must Not Be Named. ;o)