The Art of Deadheading

Why deadheading is important

It might seem counterintuitive to cut away at a plant to help it grow, but that’s exactly what you need to do if you want your plants to grow to be big and beautiful. Regular pruning, trimming, and deadheading is essential for a healthy and attractive landscape, but knowing when and how to do it can be confusing.

In this blog, we’ll look at deadheading and the whys, whens, and hows of it.

Deadheading refers to the practice of cutting dead flowers off plants and shrubs that are still growing. This must be done to allow new buds to grow in the place of the previous flowers. Even before the new flowers bloom, deadheading a plant makes it immediately look better because it doesn’t have those brown, shriveled up flowers hanging from it. Removing the deadheads ensures that the plant continues to bloom for as long as it can.

When do you need to deadhead?

When you need to start deadheading and how often you need to do it will vary slightly from one plant to the next. Generally, you should start deadheading as soon as it is necessary – when the flower first blooms and its flowers become “spent.” Keep an eye on your plants throughout spring and summer and deadhead them whenever needed.

You should continue deadheading into the fall, but stop when the weather starts to get colder. At this point, when growth starts to slow, leaving the spent flowers on your plants allows them to reseed themselves ready for next spring. During the colder seasons, you can use materials like gravel and natural stone around your flower beds to protect your plants and keep the soil in good condition.

How to do it right

You’ll want to deadhead your plants properly without doing any damage to the plant itself. You should use a pair of small garden clippers rather than trying to deadhead plants by hand. Cut the stem carefully beneath the flower head without going past the first set of healthy leaves. Do this for any dead flowers on your plants. There will likely be multiple deadheads per plant.

Deadheading properly and often will ensure that your garden continues to bloom beautifully. Get in touch with Stratford Landscape Supply for help with your landscaping or product you need in your garden, from plants, to mulch, to landscape stone, and more.