Phlox and when to cut back
suffolk,
United Kingdom 
Hello everyone I am trying to sort out my messy garden for the autumn. My pInk pphlow ( 3ft high ) are now looking well past it with lots of dead heads and the leaves are starting to brwn slightly. Is it time to cut them back and if it is how far back to the ground ? all the way or 6 inches above ?
many thanks
6 Sep, 2009
Answers
My method of deaing with phlox is cut off the faded flowers now and cut back the old top growth in January (although I see no reason why you shouldn't do this as soon as the leaves drop off in autumn)
6 Sep, 2009
I have been dead-heading mine, and if I come across a stem with brown leaves, I cut it right back to the ground now. The rest I usually cut back later in the year, so I can mulch the bed...right to the ground, or the old stems will stick up amongst the new growth next year.
Alice, yes, well, sort of...you can do the equivalent of pinching the tops out of some in May - then those ones will flower later than the rest, so you get a longer flowering period!
It isn't quite what you said, though...
6 Sep, 2009
I have read somewhere that if you cut back phlox at the end of May, you are guaranteed that it will flower that year....can anyone quantify this?
6 Sep, 2009