When is the right time to cut back crocosmia here in the UK? Do you even need to cut it back? Well, wonder no longer I have got all your answers!
When to Cut Back Crocosmia
Crocosmia should be cut back in the autumn once the foliage has browned, withered, and died. In the UK this tends to happen around October or November.
You can also leave the dead foliage until spring. This doesn’t look attractive but the dead foliage does provide a habitat for all sorts of bugs and insects.
Leaving the dead foliage also works as a bit of a mulch, helping to protect the new shoots and the root of the plant. So if the look doesn’t bother you too much then you can leave it and just remove the dead foliage in spring once new shoots are coming through.
When doing this you need to be very careful that you don’t remove the new shoots with the old foliage.
How To Cut Back Crocosmia
The best way to cut crocosmia back is to grab a pair of secateurs or hand shears and get right into the base of the plant.
We don’t want to just go and chop everything back as there will be some young, green shoots in there that are still alive and storing up energy.
Cut the stems of the plant off right at the base, maybe half an inch or an inch above the soil level. Once you have just the leave chuck it out somewhere into a pile so you can see what else needs to be removed.
If you do come across some green shoots then leave them be. These tend to be the shoots of new corms and need to store up as much energy as possible so don’t remove the leaves.
What To Do With Older Crocosmia That Are Flopping
If you have a big, well-established, Crocosmia that has started to flop and look unsightly then you need to dig it up and divide the roots into new plants.
Just get stuck in with a spade and work it around the edge of the plant to lift the roots. Crocosmia roots don’t tend to be too deep so this isn’t overly difficult but it can be awkward depending on the size of your plant.
After this, you want to divide the combs up so that the clump is much smaller. With older plants, I would also take the younger, smaller corms. These won’t grow as big as the older ones were so the new plant’s won’t flop in the same way.
This is a job that needs to be done every few years and doing this will also help keep the plant in check and stop it from spreading too far into your border.