Lysimachia nummularia, commonly known as Creeping Jenny, is a vigorous perennial plant utilized for its dense, fast-spreading growth as a ground cover or as a trailing accent in containers. Its small, coin-shaped leaves give rise to one of its other common names, moneywort. Because of its rapid growth habit, managing its spread and maintaining a lush appearance requires regular, focused attention. This guide provides practical instruction on how to prune Creeping Jenny and effectively utilize the resulting plant material for propagation.
Optimal Timing and Reasons for Pruning
The most effective time to conduct a major cutback for Creeping Jenny is in early spring, just before the plant begins its active growth cycle. This timing allows the plant to channel its energy into producing new, denser foliage immediately afterward. Throughout the warmer months, maintenance pruning can be performed as needed to manage its aggressive spread.
Regular removal of errant stems prevents the plant from encroaching on neighboring areas, a tendency that is pronounced in moist soil conditions. Pruning also serves to rejuvenate older patches that have become sparse or leggy. Trimming back these older stems encourages the development of new side shoots, which results in a fuller, more compact mat of foliage.
Essential Tools and Preparation
Managing Creeping Jenny requires only simple, readily available tools, specifically a pair of sharp hand shears or standard gardening scissors. Ensuring the blades are sharp facilitates a clean cut rather than a jagged tear, which minimizes stress on the plant. Before beginning any trimming, the shears should be sanitized, typically by wiping them down with an alcohol solution, to prevent the potential transfer of pathogens between plants.
Step-by-Step Pruning Techniques
Pruning techniques vary based on the goal, ranging from light maintenance to complete rejuvenation. For routine shaping and encouraging fullness, a maintenance trim involves simply clipping the tips of the longest stems. Removing the last few inches of growth promotes branching from the lateral buds just below the cut, leading to a denser canopy.
When dealing with large, overgrown, or sparse patches, a more significant intervention is necessary, known as a hard cutback. This process involves cutting the entire plant mass back significantly, often to within two inches of the ground level. While this may seem drastic, Creeping Jenny responds robustly, quickly pushing out a flush of vigorous, new growth.
Regardless of the extent of the pruning, all cuts should be made just above a leaf node or stem intersection. Making the cut here ensures that the remaining stem segment has an active growth point ready to sprout. After a hard cutback, it is important to collect all the trimmed material promptly, as the discarded stems can easily take root where they land, creating unwanted new plants.
Propagating New Plants from Cuttings
The material removed during pruning is exceptionally easy to propagate, allowing for the creation of new plants with minimal effort. Healthy stem sections between four and six inches long are ideal for cuttings. Prepare each segment by stripping away all the leaves from the lower two-thirds of the stem, leaving only a few leaves at the very tip.
This removal of lower foliage prevents the material from rotting when placed in the rooting medium and reduces the amount of moisture the cutting loses. The prepared cuttings can be placed directly into moist, well-draining potting soil or simply suspended in a jar of water. When using soil, insert the bare end of the stem about an inch deep and keep the medium consistently moist. Roots typically begin to form within a few weeks.