I have a couple of basic gardening questions...

The previous owners of our house planted chrysanthemums in the fall...so I now have dead twiggy looking plants in the yard. Do I just clip them back? I know they can be perennial plants, so I don't want to yank them out of the yard.

Also, we have some pampas grass in the backyard. I hate the plant in general, but I'm not ready to rip it out and replant with something else. Anyhow, it's looking as though it needs to be trimmed back--do I just clip it back or is there a method to it?