Cutting St. John's wort - when, how often and how is it done?

Cutting the St. John's wort - is it necessary?

Reasons that speak for a cut

You decide what is necessary! There are various reasons why it can be useful to cut St. John's wort or a St. John's wort bush. Here are some of them:

Remove dead flowers
prepare for winter
Stimulate budding
Gaining cuttings
to harvest
Cut flowers received
Remove frozen food
Keep growth in check (cut off runners)

A strong pruning - to be done in spring

Basically, it is advisable to prune the St. John's wort vigorously every spring. The shoots from the previous year look unsightly and dried up in spring. The old shoots are removed to make room for the new shoots and to encourage budding. Even with evergreen and woody species, a cut is advisable, at least if some parts are frozen.

The ideal period for this pruning is between March and April. Of course, you can also cut St. John's wort in late autumn. But then winter protection is appropriate to protect the roots from moisture.

How is the cut done?

You should consider:

Cut back withered leaves and stems
like to cut down to 5 to 10 cm
Ground-covering species such as St. John's wort can also be cut with a lawnmower
take care that no new shoots are removed
use clean, sharp secateurs

Cut off old flowers or leave them attached for seed extraction

St. John's wort can also be cut in midsummer immediately after the flowering period. This cut is used to remove the withered flowers. As a result, fruits and seeds cannot develop. This saves strength for St. John's wort.

However, if you want to gain seeds, you will need to leave the flowers, or at least a few of them, on the plant. The seeds are ripe in autumn and can be sown either immediately or in spring.

Cut the cabbage to harvest

If you want to cut the St. John's wort in order to harvest the plant parts, you should do so during the flowering period in the best case. Cut off either just the flowers or all of the herb. The plant parts can then be used fresh, for example for tea, or dried.

St. John's wort as a cut flower

A well-cared for St. John's wort with strong flower stems is also a good cut flower. The best way to do this is to cut the stems to 10 cm above the ground. The berries can also be cut off in autumn to decorate flower arrangements.