Why Catmint Must be Cut Back Mid-Summer

Catmint, also called Walker’s Low, is one of the most popular plants in Garden Zone 6: landscapers use it prolificly where I live.  In fact, my original landscapers put six of them in my front yard.  This is great when they look good!  But not so great when they start to get overgrown & droopy-looking, which happens right around the end of July into August.  Here, we’ll discover “Why Catmint Must be Cut Back Mid-Summer,” so that you can make the most of it & possibly get a second bloom!

This photo was taken in spring, when my catmint are looking beautiful & lush, with pretty purple flowers.

And this is what it looks like mid-August! You might confuse it with a weed. This is a plant that desperately needs to be cut back…

Why Catmint Must be Cut Back Mid-Summer

Signs That Your Catmint Needs to be Deadheaded: 

• It’s gotten way too big, & is crowding out other plants;
• It’s looking droopy, saggy, & limp ~ instead of having more “erect” stems;
• Your pretty purple flowers are turning brown ~ this is a MAJOR sign that you need to do a dramatic deadhead of your catmint;
• It just looks BAD! Or not like it did in spring.

This catmint is: 1) Overgrown, 2) Droopy, & 3) Showing brown flowers instead of purple. ALL signs that it must be deadheaded asap!!

How to Cut Back Your Catmint: 

• Take standard garden shears ~ or even better, large pruning shears (they’ll make the job easier) with a nice sharp edge.  If your catmint is seriously overgrown like mine above: cut it back by about HALF or more. 
• You don’t want any brown remaining: either in the flowers, or on any stems.  Get rid of anything brown!!  These are dead stems & won’t produce anymore unless you cut them way back.
• DON’T be afraid to cut catmint back aggressively: they will COME BACK!! These are some of the fastest growers in the yard, & should make a spectacular comeback in late summer/fall, with more purple flowers.

This is one of my catmint’s AFTER pruning: you can see green leaves & stems again!! There’s still a bit of brown, but you can always come back & do a final prune.

Bottom Line: If you’re looking for a plant with very little maintenance, catmint isn’t it.  I have to cut them back at least 2-3X per year ~ & due to their large size, this is quite a job. They also create a bit of a mess as they lose their purple flowers (which you can see in photo above). So if you want a similar-looking plant, try Russian Sage. They’re extremely drought-tolerant, easy-to-grow, & tend to grow upright vs. spreading out. 

Why Catmint Must be Deadheaded Mid-Summer

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