Maintenance
Cutting Back - is generally conducted in the fall or early spring to remove old growth and make way for the new. Perennials that develop woody stems are often left until the following spring to see if new growth will emerge from existing stems. Whilst plants that have been diseased or are prone to infection are cut back in the autumn.
Cutting back can also be used to regulate the growth of a plant to meet its desired goals. Pruning some spring flowering perennials after flowering will lead to a second bloom, whilst others will generate healthy new growth to replace old. Pruning summer blooming flowers prior to blooming can stagger or delay the blooming period of that plant to a later period if desired. Either way this in season pruning can be used to create compactor plants when needed.
Pinching - is similar to cutting back in its effect on reducing the size of a plant and delaying blooming but only the top portion of the stem is removed under the growing tip and first set of leaves. Yarrow and beebalm are two examples of perennials that often receive this treatment.
Dividing - most perennials will need to be divided on average every few years for optimum performance though there are some that do not appreciate this treatment such as clematis and russian sage. Signs that a perennial may be ready for dividing are the center of the plant becoming weak and flowering less. Alternatively if the plant is encroaching on its neighbors or pathways it can be time to reduce its overall size through division.
The best time to divide a perennial varies between plants, as a generalization spring and summer flowering varieties are divided in the late summer whilst late flowering plants are divided in the spring as new growth emerges. Division should not occur to close to the onset of freezing weather or hot weather.
Shrub Maintenance
For our purposes we will call any woody plant, that is not considered a tree, a shrub. The first consideration in pruning a shrub is timing, plants that bloom in the spring are predominantly worked on following flowering as they bloom on the previous seasons growth, earlier pruning would remove their flower buds. For example weigela and rhododendron.
Summer and fall flowering shrubs bloom on new growth and are pruned in early spring as new growth is about to start, this gives them the time and energy for a good bud set. Examples being Japanese spirea and butterfly bush.
Shrubs that are grown for their foliage not flowers such as barberry can be pruned throughout the season stopping early enough that new growth hardens off before winter.
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