Winterizing Astilbe Plants
Astilbe plants like to be kept moist, so it’s important to keep watering yours until the ground freezes. After the first hard frost, put down about two inches (5 cm.) of mulch around the stem. This will help regulate the temperature of the soil and keep the roots moist throughout the winter. Be careful not to put the mulch down until the frost, though. While the roots like to be moist, mulch in warmer weather can trap too much water and cause the roots to rot. Astilbe winter care is as simple as that – plenty of water before the frost and a good layer of mulch to keep it there.
How to Care for Astilbe Plants in Winter
When winterizing astilbe plants, there are a couple of routes you can take with the flowers. Deadheading astilbe won’t encourage new flowers, so you should leave them in place through the fall. Eventually, the flowers will dry on the stalks but should stay in place. When winterizing astilbe plants, you can cut all the foliage off, leaving just a 3-inch (7.5 cm) stem above the ground. It makes astilbe winter care a little easier, and all new growth will come back to replace it in the spring. You can also save the flowers for dry arrangements indoors. If you want, though, you can leave the flowers in place through the winter. They’ll dry out and provide some interest in your garden when most other plants have died back. You can then cut back all the dead material in early spring to make way for new growth.
