The way to Prune a Basket Of Gold Alyssum
Basket of stone alyssum (Aurinia saxatile, previously Alyssum saxatilis) generates a soft mat of tiny bright yellow blossoms that grows 8 to 12 inches tall and 1 to 1 1/2 feet wide, with oyster varieties that reach just half that size. The plant is hardy at U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 3 through 8 and up to zone 10 where summers are not humid. Heat and humidity can cause this perennial to be short-lived, and wet soil can cause stems to rot. Maintain the plant pruned to keep it healthy and also to prolong summer blossom.
Shear the faded blossoms and foliage back by half using pruning shears when the plant is performed blooming in the spring. Shearing can prompt another round of blossom.
Use your hands to remove dead leaves and stems that have died back throughout the season. Basket of gold alyssum have stems that can be woody at the base, so hand pruners may be required to cut through them.
Shear any reblooming basket of stone as the second round of blossoms fade to stop reseeding, if you don’t want the plant to propagate. Then leave the evergreen to semi-evergreen leaf in position over the beach.
Clip away any cold-damaged or tatty-looking increase in early spring to get ready for the new growing season.