Crocosmia after flowering

Hello Pef - it's lovely to ''see'' you here. Welcome to our little group :)
I so wish I had that problem. Usually it is the orange crocosmia that runs wild and makes a nuisance of itself, but the variety 'Lucifer' is a lovely deep red choice cultivar that I would love to have more of. Are you sure it IS 'Lucifer' you have?
If you really need to be rid of yours, you could always send them to me. Otherwise, pulling them out wherever you want the space is definitely the best option. In fact, anything is better than using poisons.
What else do you grow?
If you could possibly add your whereabouts to your profile, by the way, it would give us a better idea of your particular weather situation etc.
 
Hi everyone, thanks for the welcome.

@Tetters my original message was badly worded I dont want rid of them permanently just to get rid of all the dying foliage from them ready for next year. So pull the stalks/leaves out of the bulbs, prune them off, or maybe some other way?

My location is Sunderland in the North East, beside the seaside at Seaburn if anybody knows the area.

@Anniekay the garden isn't much to look at relatively small with a patch of grass that takes up most of it and a flowerbed down the side, I'll take a pic tomorrow of my dead crocosmias when its light and post it up if someone tells me how!
 
Pef said:
Hi everyone, thanks for the welcome.

@Tetters my original message was badly worded I dont want rid of them permanently just to get rid of all the dying foliage from them ready for next year. So pull the stalks/leaves out of the bulbs, prune them off, or maybe some other way?

My location is Sunderland in the North East, beside the seaside at Seaburn if anybody knows the area.

@Anniekay the garden isn't much to look at relatively small with a patch of grass that takes up most of it and a flowerbed down the side, I'll take a pic tomorrow of my dead crocosmias when its light and post it up if someone tells me how!
Click to expand...
I can tell ya how to post pictures. Look along the header and you will see a rectangular box laying horizontally. Click on it and a box will open. Clicking on that will send you to your photos. Tap the one you want to post, a check will appear on it and click done. Voila' you have it.

I would just cut them off at the ground or just above the ground, but see what @Tetters thinks about it. I've only admired other people's crocosmias and haven't grown them yet myself.
 
Oh, I am really pleased that you want to keep them @Pef as 'Lucifer' is an especially grand Crocosmia!
They are though, as you have noticed, like any other bulb, and look a right mess when the flowers have finished. I usually wait until all the tops have gone brown - or at least, most of them, and then cut the tops off about three inches from the ground to tidy up and dispose of. The bulbs can stay where they are and they will increase and look good next year. Invest in some decent secateurs, don't pull them out, you will pull the bulbs as well. 😱 If you're not too bothered by the messy tops, the longer they stay on the more the dying foliage will feed the bulbs for next year. You can also collect seed from the spent heads of the flowers if you want to grow some extra flowers.
Crocosmia is very tough and will withstand any amount of cold winter weather.
 
Tetters said:
Oh, I am really pleased that you want to keep them @Pef as 'Lucifer' is an especially grand Crocosmia!
They are though, as you have noticed, like any other bulb, and look a right mess when the flowers have finished. I usually wait until all the tops have gone brown - or at least, most of them, and then cut the tops off about three inches from the ground to tidy up and dispose of. The bulbs can stay where they are and they will increase and look good next year. Invest in some decent secateurs, don't pull them out, you will pull the bulbs as well. 😱 If you're not too bothered by the messy tops, the longer they stay on the more the dying foliage will feed the bulbs for next year. You can also collect seed from the spent heads of the flowers if you want to grow some extra flowers.
Crocosmia is very tough and will withstand any amount of cold winter weather.
Click to expand...
They just seem to have pulled out of the bulbs in previous years and it didnt affect them but I'll not do it again. I can stand the garden being a mess no problem till spring (and after that if i dont have time to do it 😁) but I might cut them back later in the month, I've got a handful of hyacinth bulbs to put in and at the moment I cant see where the 'spare' ground is never mind get to it to dig and plant them. I'll see if I can put a photo up but its pretty boring really as its a small garden with a bit of grass and a flowerbed down one side.
 
Pef said:
They just seem to have pulled out of the bulbs in previous years and it didnt affect them but I'll not do it again. I can stand the garden being a mess no problem till spring (and after that if i dont have time to do it 😁) but I might cut them back later in the month, I've got a handful of hyacinth bulbs to put in and at the moment I cant see where the 'spare' ground is never mind get to it to dig and plant them. I'll see if I can put a photo up but its pretty boring really as its a small garden with a bit of grass and a flowerbed down one side.
Click to expand...
Small gardens don't need to be boring Pef, and many large gardens are made up of lots of very small ones. It's the way you shape them that matters. Design and imagination can go a very long way. For an example, this one in North London
I can imagine ''Lucifer'' as a part of this lovely tiny patch of heaven.
 
View attachment 1702
So this is the garden or about 75% of it, you can see the flowerbeds running down the left with the spent crocosmia covering most of it, there are 3 or four Royal Lillys in there as well if you look closely. I basically just wanted a splash of as much colour as possible so without having a clue what I was doing chucked a load of bulbs in and the crocosmia and lillys were all that came up with the crocs pretty much taking over. the ground plants were decimated by slugs and snails before they even got going and I've no idea why the rest didnt grow but there you have it. There are a load of bluebells in there as well that flower in the spring then I cut them back ready for the summer flowers. I think I'll leave the Crocs in till spring and then cut them to let the bluebells come through, there are a handfull of other spring flowers up the top end as well just a few tulips and Daffs. There are a couple of Fuschia bushes nearest to the camera but you cant see them as they are engulfed by crocs.

That green bush with the red berries is my neighbours but I dont mind having half over the fence, it just needs trimming when I can get near it. It also seems to have spawned some weird offspring which I was going to let grow but its now growing horizontally over the grass so I'll probably take it out, as much as I dont like killing living growing things, so look out for an exciting thread on how to do that

Growing over the back fence is also a neighbours plant, again no idea what it is but it flowers lovely in the spring, it also helps to keep the fence in place as its already blown down once so having that on top of it helps, but its starting to carry a lot of weight so look out for an exciting thread on cutting that back in the future.

Ive also noticed now from up above how the lawn seems to be two colours, im not one of these who hankers after a perfect lawn (my neighbour cuts his with nail scissors, honestly) but I'll probably be looking for tips come spring - I think I'll give it one more cut this weekend before winter

And I'm aware the patio needs cleaning, I had two anthills on it this year and didnt want to kill them but they seem to have gone now and the hills dissolved, I have a nightmare with weeds in the cracks and lets face it who doesnt, I know boiling water is effective but I built that patio myself on a bed of sand, and I dont know if boiling water will erode this away. Its stood for 20 years though so its fairly solid.

@Tetters i'm not sure if the Crocs are definitely Lucifers but they are red ones - if you tell me how I can harvest some seeds and send them over to you if you want
 
Pef said:
well my attachment didnt work which renders the above post pretty pointless although it worked in the preview, I'll have another try
Click to expand...
If your photos are in the device you are using, just click on the rectangular box at the top of the box you're typing in. It's to the left of the smiley face. You can upload them to your post that way.
 
Right! Now I can see what's going on.... (and don't worry, you are not the only one who struggles with shoving the photos on - I am a dead loss at it) I bet you get the hang of it well before I do, as I have to get help every time :LOL:

The first thing to know is that ''trimming things back'' is not hurting them. It is called pruning, and is in my opinion , one of the most important jobs in the garden. That shrub on the side looks like a Cotoneaster (cot own ee aster) and it needs a severe hacking.
Have a chat with your neighbour and tell them that you will need to prune your side, and volunteer to do their side too! Get some good sharp secateurs and chop off the whole thing to be level with the top of the fence. Then cut the sides tight, to give growing space in the bed. Believe me, this will help the shrub to thrive and make it really healthy. The very same job is needed on all that shrubbery in front of the window too. If it were mine, I would probably cut it to zero and get rid of it altogether.This is the absolute best time for the clearing process, during autumn!! The ''bushy bit'' in the grass is another bit of cotoneaster - it seeds itself and will spread everywhere.
Now for the Crocosmia!! Nice plant, but in the wrong place. I am doubtful about it being Lucifer because it is spreading more like the common deep orange one - can't remember the name at the mo' (just an ordinary Montbretia). If you leave it in there it will take over the entire garden in no time at all. I suggest digging some out and putting them in pots. I'm afraid the bluebells will do exactly the same thing, but they are even worse. These are bulbs for naturalising in big spaces - preferably wooded areas.

@Pef please forgive me if I seem to be putting you off a bit, and maybe I should have made a gentler approach, but if you want a really colourful and productive area there, it can so easily be accomplished if you do all this clearing first. Don't worry about the grass - that will be an easy fix afterwards.
You've got a lovely little sheltered area there, and we need to make the most of it - no sorry, you need to as I'm too far away to lend a hand :rolleyes:

It was really kind of you to offer me some seeds, but we have already sown loads and they are looking quite strong and growing well. If you have a peep at the thread of my gardens you'll see the immense job I took on - and I'm old as well - ruddy 80 now :cautious:

PS We have thousands of ant hills everywhere, and usually just leave them alone and they do their breeding etc and then clear off.
@Zigs usually comes up with all sorts of clever ideas to encourage them to move away when they get into his cactus house, but it doesn't involve hurting them at all.
This has been the year of the SLUG - more varieties of them than we have seen before. We have lost the vast majority of our veggies thanks to the horrible slimy sods. I'm afraid they have to go in the salt pot 🫢
 
PS.. Montbretia and bluebells are problematic in the wild now in some parts of the UK. They are so invasive, and will kill off any other plants in their way.
 
I put an upturned flowerpot over the ants nests in the summer then wait for them to move into that and move the whole thing onto next door's lawn 🙂
 
Tetters said:
Right! Now I can see what's going on.... (and don't worry, you are not the only one who struggles with shoving the photos on - I am a dead loss at it) I bet you get the hang of it well before I do, as I have to get help every time :LOL:

The first thing to know is that ''trimming things back'' is not hurting them. It is called pruning, and is in my opinion , one of the most important jobs in the garden. That shrub on the side looks like a Cotoneaster (cot own ee aster) and it needs a severe hacking.
Have a chat with your neighbour and tell them that you will need to prune your side, and volunteer to do their side too! Get some good sharp secateurs and chop off the whole thing to be level with the top of the fence. Then cut the sides tight, to give growing space in the bed. Believe me, this will help the shrub to thrive and make it really healthy. The very same job is needed on all that shrubbery in front of the window too. If it were mine, I would probably cut it to zero and get rid of it altogether.This is the absolute best time for the clearing process, during autumn!! The ''bushy bit'' in the grass is another bit of cotoneaster - it seeds itself and will spread everywhere.
Now for the Crocosmia!! Nice plant, but in the wrong place. I am doubtful about it being Lucifer because it is spreading more like the common deep orange one - can't remember the name at the mo' (just an ordinary Montbretia). If you leave it in there it will take over the entire garden in no time at all. I suggest digging some out and putting them in pots. I'm afraid the bluebells will do exactly the same thing, but they are even worse. These are bulbs for naturalising in big spaces - preferably wooded areas.

@Pef please forgive me if I seem to be putting you off a bit, and maybe I should have made a gentler approach, but if you want a really colourful and productive area there, it can so easily be accomplished if you do all this clearing first. Don't worry about the grass - that will be an easy fix afterwards.
You've got a lovely little sheltered area there, and we need to make the most of it - no sorry, you need to as I'm too far away to lend a hand :rolleyes:

It was really kind of you to offer me some seeds, but we have already sown loads and they are looking quite strong and growing well. If you have a peep at the thread of my gardens you'll see the immense job I took on - and I'm old as well - ruddy 80 now :cautious:

PS We have thousands of ant hills everywhere, and usually just leave them alone and they do their breeding etc and then clear off.
@Zigs usually comes up with all sorts of clever ideas to encourage them to move away when they get into his cactus house, but it doesn't involve hurting them at all.
This has been the year of the SLUG - more varieties of them than we have seen before. We have lost the vast majority of our veggies thanks to the horrible slimy sods. I'm afraid they have to go in the salt pot 🫢
Click to expand...
Not putting me off at all - I now have the makings of a plan
I'm going to prune back the Cotoneaster I normally keep it tidy its just laziness thats prevented that of late. And dig out its offspring.
I'm going to give the bluebells on last hurrah and then when theyve flowered this spring I'll know exactly where they all are and dig them out. They've been here since I moved in 20 years ago and never really spread they seem happy enough as they are, I'll miss their lovely blue in spring but I need to clear space as you say, my Dad always said they were weeds anyway.
The Crocs I'll dig out and thin abit so I still have some but I'll create some more space, theyve been there about ten years and you are right about them mutiplying but theyve held steady for a few years and the numbers actually dwindled this year. I've no idea about the Lucifer question I looked on the internet and they just looked like the pictures, they are definitely red though. Will take some pics when they flower next year and try and solve the mystery.
The bush over the back fence I cant do too much about because its coming over from the back neighbour and I can completely cut my side and it'll grow back, plus it's helping hold the fence in place as the winds come up off the sea so its quite practical and it does look lovely in spring/summer with all its flowers like a waterfall.

Thats a start 😁
 
Pef said:
Not putting me off at all - I now have the makings of a plan
I'm going to prune back the Cotoneaster I normally keep it tidy its just laziness thats prevented that of late. And dig out its offspring.
I'm going to give the bluebells on last hurrah and then when theyve flowered this spring I'll know exactly where they all are and dig them out. They've been here since I moved in 20 years ago and never really spread they seem happy enough as they are, I'll miss their lovely blue in spring but I need to clear space as you say, my Dad always said they were weeds anyway.
The Crocs I'll dig out and thin abit so I still have some but I'll create some more space, theyve been there about ten years and you are right about them mutiplying but theyve held steady for a few years and the numbers actually dwindled this year. I've no idea about the Lucifer question I looked on the internet and they just looked like the pictures, they are definitely red though. Will take some pics when they flower next year and try and solve the mystery.
The bush over the back fence I cant do too much about because its coming over from the back neighbour and I can completely cut my side and it'll grow back, plus it's helping hold the fence in place as the winds come up off the sea so its quite practical and it does look lovely in spring/summer with all its flowers like a waterfall.

Thats a start 😁
Click to expand...
Phew, thank goodness this old ''know all'' didn't put you off then. At least your dad would have agreed with me. 😌 It would be good to see your garden from a couple of different angles - one including the front of the shed maybe, and one pointing down the garden from the patio bit. Then, if you get cracking and clear out all the rubbish, maybe we could come up with a few suggestions and ideas for the image we are aiming for.
It's a bit like cleaning up the messy living room, and moving the furniture to its best position - the whole space will look bigger, and you will probably see it in a different light. At that point you will need a comfy seat and a sunny day, and maybe a few gardening magazines - and tea with cakes, or whatever else takes your fancy. I always think the planning is the best bit 🤓

PS For now, I would strongly suggest that you plant those Hyacinth bulbs in an appropriate pot and put them somewhere they can be moved from if they get in the way of the work. The whole thing can then be put in the best spot when you have the bones of the garden together.
 

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