How to Prune a Bee Balm Plant
No butterfly garden is complete without the addition of the bee balm plant (Monarda fistulosa). Also known as wild bergamot and a member if the mint family, bee balm offers tubular red, purple, pink or white flowers that draw not only butterflies into the garden, but bees and hummingbirds as well. Bee balm plants may get up to 4 feet tall and are easy to control by pruning. Does this Spark an idea?
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Instructions
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Remove diseased stems at any time during the growing period, using pruning shears. Powdery mildew, a fungal disease, can be a problem for bee balm, and infected stems need to be removed and discarded. Spray the bee balm with a fungicide at the rate suggested on the label. Powdery mildew will appear as a white or grey powder-like substance on the stems and foliage.
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Cut the bee balm to 2 inches above the soil after the first hard frost. To get the bee balm to grow larger the next season, this is the only pruning that is necessary.
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Control the size of the bee balm by dividing the plant in the spring. Virginia Tech horticulturists suggest dividing the plant every two years, when it becomes too large or when die-back in the middle of the plant is evident.
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Insert a shovel into the soil 6 inches from the bee balm's base when it has died back in the fall. Cut a ring around the bee balm to pry it from the soil with the shovel. Cut off any portions of the root ball that appear old and woody. Cut the entire root ball in half, using the shovel to slice through it. Transplant one of the divisions into another area or at least 15 inches from the established plant. Replant the remaining division in its original location.
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References
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