If your garden contains many perennials you may notice that the uglies have set in. It's time to cut most perennials back and clean up the garden beds. Particularly bad looking plants are many of the hostas and the foliage of established peonies. A clean sweep through the garden, cutting foliage off at the ground, will do remarkable things visually speaking. Not all perennials should be cut back though and knowing what to shear versus what not to, comes with many years of practice. Perennials that are borderline for us, as far as hardiness goes, should not be cut back. They need to build up extra sugars for the cold months which are fast approaching. Winter wet is often a larger threat for these half-hardy plants and as long as there are leaves on the plant, water will transpire and the plants roots will tolerate the excess moisture. Some of these plants include Verbena 'Homestead Purple', Verbena bonariensis, Artemesia 'Powis Castle', kniphofias and Aster frikartii. Remove the foliage from these perennials when they are completely dormant or you see lots of new growth coming up low on the plant in spring. A few other plants should not be cut back completely because they are technically sub-shrubs rather than true perennials. Sub-shrubs develop woody stems and are actually smaller shrubs that often die back by as much as 30 percent. Trim these to encourage new growth, rather than cutting them back completely. Some of these include caryopteris, lavender and varieties of hypericum. Trim out only dead branches and shear them down to healthy new shoots. This exercise is best reserved for spring. There are also many semi-evergreen perennials that will enhance the garden through winter months and should only be cut back in late spring before new growth emerges. A few of these perennials actually resent being cut back and may perish if they are pruned too severely. Some of these include hardy ferns, euphorbias, digitalis and heucheras. Prune these only as new growth becomes evident or ratty leaves need removed. As far as tools go, I have a few favorites. The clippers are either Swiss made Felcos or ARS. The ARS pruners are smaller and lighter, made of aluminum, they don't rust. My favorite of these are the multipurpose shear with long blade. The gloves are neoprene, I find that the gloves designed for fly fishing make great garden gloves since the forefinger and thumb are cut out. This is great for weeding as well, and your hands stay dry. Good tools make a job pleasant and that time of year has arrived when the weather can be downright rude! Lastly, don't be vain, wear lots of layers and a good hat. A good hat will cover your ears. Your last layer should include a coat with lots of pockets, the best ones are always the old, well worn ones, sometimes the buttons have popped off from bending so much with so many insulating, bulging inner layers. Yes, there's good reason to keep that old coat.