How To Care For Liriope?

These beautiful evergreens are a great addition to any garden or herbaceous border. But how to care for liriope? Let’s find out more!

How Hardy Are Liriope?

Liriope are relatively hardy plants. They don’t mind drought or shade, and are pretty resilient to most types of weather, too.

This plant is at home in the shade, or partial sunlight; it is resistant to drought conditions, and it will bounce back in spring even after a hard winter.

Liriope doesn’t need a lot of fancy fertilizers; it is good at getting everything it needs from the soil around it.

The one thing liriope will not tolerate is over watering. Make sure you do not allow its roots to sit in the wet, otherwise they will rot.

This article discusses the hardiness of liriope, and also gives some useful tips on how to prepare it for the winter.

Do Liriope Prefer Sun Or Shade?

This is a very forgiving plant. It will cope in full sun, and also thrive under trees where there is little light.

Their favorite conditions are part shade, though they will be fine with either full sun or full shade.

If your liriope is in the full sun, you may wish to rig up a little shade for it, or plant something beside it that will offer it a little protection.

For plants in full shade, watch out for the foliage becoming a little leggy, as they try to find light. You could consider pruning a patch so that light can get through part of the day.

What Soil Do You Need For Liriope?

These plants don’t have many soil requirements – in fact, they can grow just as well in sandy soil as the heavier, clay based types.

The most important thing about a liriope’s soil is that it is well draining. They will not tolerate sitting in wet soil, as it will rot their roots.

You won’t need to worry too much about filling the soil with compost or mulch, as liriope also does not have high nutrient needs.

As long as the water is allowed to drain away freely so that liriope’s feet don’t stay wet, it should thrive in any soil.

How Much Water For Liriope Grass?

When you first plant your liriope, you will need to water it in well, as you would with any new plant.

Once established, these plants are very drought hardy. They will not need watering every day – in fact, too much watering can harm them.

Your liriope probably won’t need watering more than once a week, and then only if you are undergoing a prolonged dry spell.

Obviously it is important to keep an eye on the conditions at the time – so if your weather is excessively hot then you may need to water more often.

When Does Liriope Bloom?

Liriope has a really beautiful flower, similar in appearance to a grape hyacinth. They produce a lot of flowers, making a really attractive bed.

These flowers will generally appear in the autumn, which is good because many other flowers have finished by the end of summer.

If you are looking for a flower bed that will continue to produce color when other flowers have died back, liriope is for you!

How To Encourage Liriope To Bloom?

Give it some more sun

Although liriope are happy in the shade, a bit more sunlight will encourage those pretty flowers.

Keep an eye on the water

Over watering is a big no no for liriope, but without sufficient water they will not be able to produce their flowers.

Weed regularly

If your liriope bed is overtaken with weeds, they will be competing for the nutrients needed to make flowers bloom.

Prune it well

If the plant is hanging on to old foliage, it will be using its reserves for this rather than producing new blooms, so trim off all the old growth.

Avoid certain fertilizers

Fertilizers high in nitrogen can interfere with liriope’s blooming, as nitrogen encourages the leaves rather than the flowers.

This video (although you’ll need your reading glasses!) tells you the best ways to get your liriope looking as beautiful as it can be:

When To Fertilize Liriope?

Your liriope doesn’t have high fertilizer needs, so you don’t have to worry about year round feeding for it.

Applying a slow release fertilizer in the spring should be plenty of feeding for your liriope.

Apply this just before the new growth in the spring, and you will be rewarded with a happy healthy plant.

What To Use To Fertilize Liriope?

Liriope is an easy going plant, that will do its thing without too much outside  help or interference.

They won’t need regular feeding, however a dose of slow release fertilizer early in the year will benefit your plant enormously.

Slow release shrub and tree fertilizer, applied around the plant in the spring, should give it a welcome boost and encourage it to grow strong and healthy.

You should only need to fertilize your liriope once a year, and using a slow release fertilizer will ensure that it has everything it needs for the coming growing season.

What To Do With Liriope In Spring?

Spring is the time when all plants wake from their winter slumber, and start to produce new life and healthy, green shoots.

But, before that happens, there may be a lot of leftover, dead material from the previous year’s growing.

In the spring, it is a good idea to check all your beds over for old foliage that may need trimming back – and your liriope bed is no exception!

For best results, you should time your pruning to just before the liriope starts producing new growth; this way you avoid damaging the new shoots.

Pruning a liriope is easy – it’s just a matter of removing the old, unattractive foliage. You should always wear protective gloves when pruning, and make sure your secateurs are sharp.

How To Get Weeds Out Of Liriope?

You shouldn’t have to weed your liriope too much, as they are ground covering plants that will block light to any weeds growing.

However, if you do notice unwanted weeds around your plants, simply pull them as you would any other weed.

Liriope is a fabulous plant, perfect for those spots in the garden where other plants are too fussy to grow – and, as an added bonus, it is super easy to grow too!

Liriope Key Facts

Name	Liriope
Scientific Name	Liriope Muscari
Family	Convallariceae
Light Requirements	Partial to full shade
Soil Requirements	Well drained soil
Temperature Requirements	Warm weather, tolerates humidity
Water Requirements	Do not over water, once a week in summer and none in winter
Fertilizer Requirements	One per year, slow release tree and shrub fertiliser
Bloom Time	Autumn
Pests	Slugs, snails
Size	10 – 18 inches