Should I wait for frost before cutting down plants?
Barbara Torrence, by email
AMATT SAYS As temperatures cool and light levels drop in autumn, herbaceous plants begin to go dormant and the nutrients in the leaves are taken down to be stored in the roots ready for winter and regrowth next spring.
If you cut them too early, this slightly weakens the plant and there is even a chance of regrowth. Although traditionally herbaceous borders were cut back then mulched after the first frosts, leaving them untouched until the end of winter means you can enjoy the wonderful autumn colour, structure from the leaves and stems, or their beauty when festooned with spider webs and rimed with frost. The leaf cover also provides shelter for wildlife.
If you have early bulbs, such as snowdrops or aconites, growing among herbaceous plants, tidy the border just before they emerge from the soil.