Should You Prune Your Bee Balm This Fall? It Depends on This One Factor, Gardeners Say

Wild bergamot, or bee balm, doesn’t always need pruning, but cutting stems and flowers off your plants at the right time can reduce issues, make your plants grow bushier, and cause them to flower better.

Unlike many perennials, bee balm can be pruned in a few different ways in spring, summer, or fall to achieve different results.

If you’d like to perk up your plants and grow more flowers, here’s everything you need to know about how to prune bee balm in different seasons — according to plant pros!

The Right Time to Cut Back Bee Balm

Bee balm is a relatively flexible plant and can be pruned in a few ways at different times of the year.

If your bee balm suffered from powdery mildew during the growing season, fall pruning is the way to go. Wait for your plants to die back with the cold, and be sure to remove and properly dispose of all infected plant material so mildew problems don’t spread.

Bee balm can also be deadheaded when the flowers fade in mid- to late summer to prevent self-sowing and encourage plants to rebloom, but the most important time to prune is in the spring.

“Pinching back wild bee balm early in the season can create shorter, bushier plants that bloom a bit later,” says plant expert Cathy Rees.

Seed expert Emily Blaisden also recommends early pruning using the “Chelsea chop” method—removing 1/3 to 1/2 of the plant. For growers in cooler areas this is usually done in June, but it can be performed earlier in milder climates when plants are 12- to 18-inches tall.

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How to Cut Back Bee Balm the Right Way

Bee balm pruning methods vary depending on the season and your gardening goals. Here’s a look at how to prune these plants through the changing seasons.

Fall

Once bee balm plants die back with the cold, you can cut the stems to a few inches above the soil line and either throw the old stems and leaves in the trash or your fire pit to reduce powdery mildew problems.

This treatment is only needed if bee balm was infected with pests or disease during the growing season, and Blaisden recommends leaving them to support pollinators and other wildlife.

“Leaving dead stems is important for stem-nesting bees,” says Blaisden. “Perennial pruning can also delay blooming times and potentially disrupt insect lifecycles.”

Not to mention, seed-eating birds like finches love eating bee balm seeds in winter if you leave the flower heads on the plant.

Spring to Early Summer

If you want bee balm to grow bushier, cut or pinch the growing tips off your plants with your fingers. You can also employ the “Chelsea chop” method by cutting the plant stems back by 1/3 to 1/2.

“The exact height of pruning cuts depends on what kind of branching you want,” Blaisden says. “Some people cut a couple inches from the ground; some prefer to cut where they want the plant to start branching.”

You can also use this time to remove roughly 1/4 of bee balm stems to the ground to thin out your plants, improve air flow, and reduce the risk of mildew issues.

Mid- to Late Summer

Summer is the time to deadhead bee balm flowers, which can be accomplished by simply pinching old flowers off at the closest leaf node.

“This is the best way to reduce self-sowing,” Blaisden says. “Deadheading also extends flowering a bit longer.”

5 Other Tips for Growing Bee Balm

Bee balm plants are relatively easy to keep and they don’t demand much attention. But if you want your plants to flower even better, here are a few more tips to remember.

• Provide lots of sun. Bee balm is a full sun plant that should receive at least 6 to 8 hours of direct light per day. These plants can get leggy or stop flowering in lower light conditions.
• Avoid aggressive spread. Like other plants in the mint family, bee balm can spread quickly. If you want to keep these plants more manageable, deadhead spent flowers and consider growing bee balm in dedicated raised beds.
• Skip pesticides. Keep pollinators safe by not using pesticides on bee balm and other pollinator-friendly flowers.
• Limit fertilizer. Bee balm doesn’t need much fertilizer and can develop floppy stems in overly rich soil.
• Water wisely. Provide bee balm with about 1 inch of water per week to keep plants in bloom and growing strong.