Winter Clean Up Around the Utility Box

I noticed that the rabbit eating all my liriope and coral bells likes to hide in the tall grass around my utility box, so I decided now was a good a time as any to cut those grasses down and clean up the brush a bit.

Winter utility box garden clean up - I like to leave it a little brushy and not strip it down to bare mulch. I've even amended the soil with dead sod and this bed already has some of the nicest soil in my yard. 

I let my iris hang around a lot longer than I usually do, and the long leaves actually were a nice glowing golden color for a while, but then they started to turn leathery and decompose so it was time to do away with them. I hacked back the Russian sage and clipped the Shasta daisies as well.

I'm not so sure about my newest additions, the Gaura lindheimeri, because it seems to be on the border of hardiness zones - some sites say 5-9, some say 7-9. I'm fine if it wants to die back to the roots as long as my precious sale table plants don't bite the dust completely!