shearing spotted dead nettle groundcover

[dlhein]

I have been reading many places online that you should shear spotted dead nettle (beacon silver) to the ground "after the first bloom to promote compact growth." Some places say to 1-2" above the ground. What exactly does that mean? I just planted one plant this year because I'm experimenting with 6 different ground covers this year to see which does best in my yard. This one is growing the best. It looks beautiful! Does shearing like this really mean cutting away leaves and everything right to the ground or close to it??? And when exactly does "after the first bloom" mean? When it finishes blossoming or after I see the first flower? And right now, I just have one nice big beautiful plant. What if I had a huge patch of it? Would I go out there with pruners and cut all of them down? Because it also says to use bypass pruners to do it. I'm still new at this gardening stuff. It would be great if someone could give me a real specific explanation for dummies. Thank you.

[impatience]

hummm?? I've never sheared mine and never noticed that they need it, but maybe I'm not looking close enough. If it looks wonderful why do anything to it? Just my 2 cents.

imp

[Chris_W]

Hi

I've never done that either. You could cut it back if it was getting too far out of control, like into a pathway or patio, or encroaching on other plants too much, but I've never really touched it in the garden.

I do shear them back when potting them so they aren't too leggy, but that's it. If you just planted them this year I could just let it go

Chris