How to Prune Daylilies

If you have daylilies, then you’ll want to know how to take care of them, as they are such a low maintenance flower that adds so much to any yard. It is not important what type you have because they are all treated basically the same way. Knowing a few tips can keep your lily bed in good order all summer long.

Difficulty:

Easy

Instructions

Things You’ll Need

• Pruning shears
• Lawn mower

1. 

   Do nothing all spring and early summer. The flowers will send up leaves through the dirt shortly after the snow melts. They will continue to get more and more leaves until the end of May or beginning of June, when they will start budding.

2. 

   Pick off the dead flowers once they shrivel. This is purely for aesthetic value as it does not help the plant to remove the dead flowers. It will actually keep blooming on the same stem for weeks.

3. 

   Cut off the dead stem when you are certain that flower production has stopped. Again, this is more for neatness than help to the plant. If you wait a few weeks, they will become dry and brittle and you can easily pull them off the plant instead of cutting them.

4. 

   Let the leaves grow for the rest of the summer until they start to look a little scraggly and unkempt. Take a lawn mower on its highest setting, or use hand shears on smaller beds and cut them to the ground. Use this time to rake up any extra leaves or yard debris that has collected within the bed. Within a week, they will start to produce new green and fresh leaves that will look good until the first frost.