lantana pruning

Question

The article reads to prune in late winter or early spring. I live in northern California so want to be precise in knowing when to trim back my in-ground lantanas. What months are considered late winter, early spring? We’ve already had a frost and some things I’ve read said to prune them. Other sites say leave it uncovered and prune in late winter but give no months as to what late winter is… so I’m confused as to what to do. We don’t get snow but we do get frost and cold, and hopefully, this winter we’ll be getting rain.

Also, I have two lantana that are in oak barrels. The ones in the ground have been affected by the frost and ready to sleep, but the ones in the barrels aren’t affected. Does that mean I shouldn’t prune them in late winter or shouldn’t prune them unless their leaves die and they go to sleep too? They are out in the elements not far from the in-ground ones. They aren’t covered by overhang or anything.

Sincerely
Susan
Santa Rosa, CA

Answer 1

In early spring you can cut back the entire Lantana plant to about 6 to 12 inches in height if the plant needs an entire trim up.
You can also just trim 1/3 of the oldest and tallest stems each early spring.

In mid-spring and summer you can pinch back the growing tips of the plant to encourage a fuller plant and more flowering points.
Pinching back several times in the summer can be done to continue to encourage a fuller plant, but will delay some flowers.

In the fall dead head the spent flowers and trim back and dead branches.

Lantana are hardy down to only about 32 degrees F. If you temperatures are going below freezing, you will need to protect your plants.

March 20 is the first day of spring. You could prune your plants the month before, but weather trends can play a part in gardening. You can adjust your schedule if the weather is warmer or colder.
Pruning should be done before the plants start to leaf out.

https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/flowers/lantana/lantana-plants.htm