When, how often and how is it done?

Reasons that speak for a cut

You decide on the necessity! There are various reasons why it can be useful to use St. to cut a St. John's wort bush. Here are a few of them:

• Remove dead flowers
• prepare for winter
• Stimulate budding
• Gaining cuttings
• to harvest
• Cut flowers received
• Remove frozen food
• Keep growth in check (cut off runners)

A vigorous pruning - to be done in the spring

Basically, it is advisable to prune the St. John's wort vigorously every spring. The shoots from the previous year look unsightly and dried up in spring. In order to make room for the new shoots and to encourage budding, the old shoots are removed. A cut is also advisable for evergreen and woody species, at least if some parts are frozen.

The ideal period for this pruning is between March and April. Of course, you can also cut the St. John's wort in late autumn. But then winter protection is appropriate to protect the roots from moisture.

How is the cut done?

Here are some things to keep in mind:

• Cut back withered leaves and stems
• like to cut down to 5 to 10 cm
• ground cover species like the upholstery St. John's wort can also be cut with the lawn mower
• take care that no new shoots are removed
• clean, sharp Secateurs use

Cut off old flowers or leave them attached for seed extraction

St. John's wort can also be cut in midsummer immediately after the flowering period. This cut is used to remove the withered flowers. As a result, no fruits and seeds can develop. This saves strength for St. John's wort.

However, if you do Seeds If you want to win, you have to leave the flowers, or at least a few of them, on the plant. The seeds are ripe in autumn and can be sown either immediately or in spring.

Cut the cabbage to harvest

If you want to cut the St. John's wort in order to harvest the plant parts, this should ideally be done during the flowering period. Cut off either just the flowers or all of the herb. The plant parts can then be used fresh, for example for tea or dried.

St. John's wort as a cut flower

One good well-groomed St. John's wort with strong flower stalks is also suitable as a cut flower. The best way to do this is to cut the stems to 10 cm above the ground. The berries can also be cut off in autumn to decorate arrangements.