Cutting Flax Lilies Back

Flax lily is the common name for Dianella caerulea, a perennial species of flowering plant native to Australia. It is widely cultivated in gardens as a bedding or ground cover plant for its strap-shaped leaves and tall stalks of sky-blue flowers. While simple to grow, flax lilies sometimes require extensive cutting back when they take on a leggy, less vigorous appearance. Once cut, the plants will produce a flush of fresh new growth and appear healthier, but only if the foliage is cut back to the appropriate length using the right tools.

Garden hose
Tape measure
Bypass pruning shears

Instructions

- 1
  Cut back flax lilies in autumn after the flower stalks have dried out. Remove all the dead leaves and other growth before cutting back the flax lilies.
- 2
  Water your flax lilies thoroughly before cutting them back. Run a garden hose on low volume at the base of each plant for five minutes the day before cutting them back.
- 3
  Hold a tape measure next to the edge of the flax lilies. Measure 6 inches up from the ground. Snip off a small portion of the foliage at the 6-inch mark using bypass pruning shears. Use the cut foliage to guide the rest of the process.
- 4
  Cut off all the flax lily foliage to a height of 6 inches. Work with one small clump of foliage at a time to ensure that they are evenly cut. Use the bypass pruning shears from Step 3.
- 5
  Discard the flax lily foliage into a green waste bin or use it in compost. Wait at least four years before hard-pruning the flax lilies again.

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