When to cut back plants?

[addy1]

My land plants get bush hogged, after I walk the plants and save all praying mantis nests I find. Then they just lay there and poof away.

 

[brokensword]

My land plants get bush hogged, after I walk the plants and save all praying mantis nests I find. Then they just lay there and poof away.

oooh, got any pics of the nests??? Never seen any of those before...

 

[addy1]

By the time it is done raining and I get out to find them I will forget you asked. Here is from the web.

I can spot them easily, my eyes have the ability to spot things. One reason I was a good at ultrasound. Hubby always has me look for any things wrong with a car. I can find every scratch, mark, he sees nothing but the car. I save around 20-30 every year looking before I do the bush hogging.

praying mantis nests images at DuckDuckGo

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duckduckgo.com

 

[brokensword]

By the time it is done raining and I get out to find them I will forget you asked. Here is from the web.

I can spot them easily, my eyes have the ability to spot things. One reason I was a good at ultrasound. Hubby always has me look for any things wrong with a car. I can find every scratch, mark, he sees nothing but the car. I save around 20-30 every year looking before I do the bush hogging.

praying mantis nests images at DuckDuckGo

DuckDuckGo. Privacy, Simplified.

duckduckgo.com

those are very neat! I know I've never seen any in my gardens, but I think I've only seen one PM in the 30+ years I've been here. I may have to see about importing some...you're very lucky! Do you get a lot/any ladybugs there? I know they're great against aphids. Used to have some that seemed to emerge IN the house each warm winter day, but haven't seen those in a while, either.

 

[BKHpondcritters]

We usually have so many praying mantis around, but this year I don't think I've seen more than one or two. It really was an odd year, bug-wise. After the mild winter we had last year, I thought we'd be overrun with all sorts of insects, but there were so many that just seemed to be in very limited supply this summer.

 

[addy1]

I saw a lot of mantis, but very few yellow jackets YEAH!

 

[BKHpondcritters]

I saw a lot of mantis, but very few yellow jackets YEAH!

You are lucky!!! We had TONS of yellow jackets. More than I've ever seen. We also were overrun with European Hornets.

 

[addy1]

You are lucky!!! We had TONS of yellow jackets. More than I've ever seen. We also were overrun with European Hornets.

You can keep them, they damage our hives big time.

 

[Corgi Mom]

I live in Western New York and we've had a very unusual warm fall. I take my cues from the water lilies and the weather. I cut everything back 2 weeks ago when the leaves started falling and I could see the lilies going dormant and stop blooming. I cut back the water lilies and drop them into the pond. It is A LOT easier to skim up the leaves without the water lily foliage getting in the way. This week the nights will be in the 20's and 30's so I did it just in time. I leave a bubbler flowing all winter for oxygen.

 

[Ronkers]

I found a nest when in 4th grade…took it to class for our nature display. No one knew what it was…came in one morning and it had hatched…baby praying mantis all over the classroom!

 

[addy1]

My hubby did the same thing. A ton of babies come out of a nest!

 

[brokensword]

My hubby did the same thing. A ton of babies come out of a nest!

this sounds an awfully lot like womansplaining to me...grumble, mutter, glare...!

 

[addy1]

this sounds an awfully lot like womansplaining to me...grumble, mutter, glare...!


View attachment 143797

lol he was in grade school

 

[Lisak1]

I tend to leave a lot of my plants standing over winter - if they aren't something that will drop and collapse into the pond, they stay until spring. I like the way they look covered with snow, and they help catch leaves that might otherwise blow into the pond. In spring they're easy to just pull out the dead stuff as the new growth gets started.

 

[addy1]

I leave the parrots feather it turns brown looks gross then in spring, it come back gang busters.