I would not cut the leaves, and as you are preparing their bed I hope you have a containment plan. LOV's are very invasive and will become so thick you cannot get a shovel through them. Best practice is to sink a pot or metal trough and grow them in there.

Thank you for the advice regarding cutting the leaves. I went ahead and prepared the permanent bed and got them planted last night. They're looking strong this morning.

We have a lot of heat and humidity so I'm hoping the plants won't be as invasive as they seem to be in the cooler growing zones. I did, however, prepare a super bed for them, with lots of oak leaf mold and compost mixed into well worked garden soil. I planted them in a raised bed underneath the overhang of a very large Azalea that will provide dappled shade. I'm hoping they like the location.

If they go absolutely crazy and I'm not able to dig them out, I'm not reluctant to paint Roundup on each leaf or screen them off and spray Roundup to keep them within bounds. This is a new plant for me and I'm excited to see how it does here.

Mary

IF they start to overwhelm you watch for them in early spring. I find their new runners and just pull them up like I do any weed. Sometimes I get an entire run of shoots other times just the green I pulled. I have a shade garden that is well watered. By "weeding" them each spring I have not had any trouble with them becoming too thick. Try doing a search here on them and you will find many past posts on others' experience. From what I have read here, I have the least issues with them.