Am I supposed to be trimming my lantana plants?
Question:I live in Oklahoma. I just moved into a house and there are lots of lantana plants in the flower bed in the front yard. They are thriving, but they are starting to look kind of wild and overgrown. I have no idea how to take care of these plants. Am I supposed to trim them, or should I just leave them alone?
Answers:
Normal rule of thumb as far as cutting back plants is to cut no more than 1/3 of the plant back. When you cut back any plant this stimulates the roots to grow, therefore the roots will need fertilizer. I would keep it on a 10-10-10- and fertilize once a month. The one thing about Lantana is not to let it go to seed. Pick the faded flowers off before this happens. Lantana has seed that look like little green berries, don't let a faded flower go this far. This puts stress on the plant and can make it look ugly. Also Lantana is a big attracter of Whitefly an insect that can destroy the leaves, if little white bugs fly away from the plant when you touch it, you need to spray with an insecticide. Read directions before applying. Please spray early in the morning before the sun gets really hot or late in the evening after the leaves have cooled down, this also applies when you are watering, water deep rather that shallow frequent watering's, remember you are watering the roots and you need to reach all the way to the bottom of the root system, slow and easy is the best way.
Good Luck to you.
If they are the low growing type of lantana, you can trim them pretty agressivley. (sic) I usually wait until there is a hard frost or freeze. Then I cut them back to nothing. The new growth in the spring comes from the root ball. In the meantime you can trim them...especially the dead parts. Lantana are terrific plants...very hardy, take a lot of heat and big plus...they attract butterflys.
Good luck
the rule of thumb is to prune after bloom...but when plants begin to look raggedy - go ahead and trim them back to tidy up. feed lightly afterwords to help the lantana overcome the pruning and get back to the business of blooming. :)
hope this helps.
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