Cut Russian sage to the ground in spring (leave a few inches up to a foot or so) to make room for another season of growth and bloom.

Where to plant Russian sage Plant Russian sage in spring, once the frosts have ended and the soil has warmed up.

'Well established sage does benefit from a hard prune in spring to stop it getting messy and a leafless, open centre,' says Morris Hankinson of Hopes Grove Nurseries.

Russian sage does not require fertilization and is generally not susceptible to damage from pests and disease. Prune the plant in late fall or early spring.

To ensure your Russian sage makes it through the cold winter, mulch your plants well and wait until late winter to early spring to do your pruning. Black-eyed Susan Perry L. Struse ...

You could also try twiggy-stemmed dogwoods, which have lots of tiny stems radiating from a single trunk. These twiggier cornus only need tidying up in spring: you should never prune them severely.

Most people know to do it with buddleia or butterfly bush, but other candidates include Russian sage (considered something between an herbaceous and woody plant), smoke tree, chaste tree ...