How to Deadhead Your Flowering Plants

There are few things more beautiful and uplifting than a garden in bloom. The splashes of colour lift your outside space and create a wonderful sense of new life.

But all flowers eventually fade and die. The spent blooms can ruin the look of your garden and there are several other good reasons to remove them.

Deadheading is the term used to describe the removal of dead or fading flowers from plants. It is easy to do and can make all the difference to your outside space.

Why is deadheading so beneficial and what is the best way to tackle each type of plant?

Why deadhead plants?
Deadheading is an important aspect of gardening. This simple but effective practice provides the following benefits:

• Enhances aesthetic appeal: Removing spent blooms keeps the garden looking tidy and well-maintained.
• Promotes new blooms: By removing faded flowers, you will prevent the plant from devoting energy to seed production. Instead, this energy is redirected towards producing more flowers.
• Prevents plants from self-seeding: Plants that readily self-seed can become problematic if not deadheaded.
• Improves plant health: Deadheading helps prevent disease by removing decaying plant material.
• Prolongs flowering season: Many plants will continue to produce flowers throughout the growing season if deadheaded regularly.
• Prevents petals scattering: Plants with abundant petals such as peonies and roses can scatter petals widely, creating an unsightly look.

When should you deadhead?

Deadheading should be undertaken as soon as flowers start to fade. Regular inspections of your garden will help you to catch spent blooms early. The frequency of deadheading depends on the type of plant and the time of year. Some plants, including many bedding plants, may need deadheading every few days, while others such as perennials may only need deadheading once each week.

How do you deadhead plants?
The simplest method is to pinch off faded blooms with your finger and thumb. Always try to remove the flower with some of its stalk as this will ensure the plant looks tidy.

If your plants have thick or stringy stems, you may require tools to deadhead them. Use scissors or secateurs and trim the spent flowers by cutting back to just above the next bud or leaf on the stem. For plants with multiple flowers, deadhead individual flowers until all flowers have finished and then prune the plant back to above a lower bud or leaf, or to ground level. Some species will produce a second flush of flowers when deadheaded while others will only produce fresh foliage.

It is worth wearing gloves while deadheading to protect your hands from thorns and sap.

How do you Deadhead the different types of garden plants?
The deadheading of most plants does not require a specific technique or any gardening experience. All you need to know is where to pinch or trim the flowers.

Bedding plants
Whether displayed in containers, hanging baskets or beds, bedding plants respond very well to deadheading. With plants such as pansies, marigolds and petunias, the flowers can be pinched off by hand. Take the flower and the stalk for the best results.

Roses
For hybrid tea roses, snap off individual flowers just below the heads using your hands as this will better promote new blooms. With other types of roses use secateurs of scissors to cut off flowers or clusters of flowers just above the next leaf. Rose petals became lose as they age so cup each flower before removing it to prevent petals from falling.

Shrubs
Many shrubs including rhododendrons, lilacs, hydrangeas, tree peonies and camelias will benefit from deadheading, however some plants may be too tall to tackle. Each spent flower should be snapped off or cut off where it joins the stem. Watch out for new buds just below the flowers and avoid damaging these.

Climbing plants
It is worth deadheading climbing plants, but you may be restricted to removing only the spent flowers you can reach. Many climbers boast touch stems and so it is often necessary to use secateurs. Cut near the base of each flower stalk.

Plants with masses of flowers
You can attend to plants that deliver masses of flowers such as lavenders by treating them to a haircut using secateurs or scissors. When the blooms begin to fade, snip them off to promote bushy growth. However, the seedheads will attract birds in autumn and winter. For this reason, you could choose to wait until the birds have feasted before cutting back your plants.

Tall perennials
The flower spikes of some perennials such as lupins are best cut back before the last few flowers are spent. This is because the seed pods are already forming at the base and will retard new flower growth. Prune the stalks to just above the leaves.

Bulbs
Remove the flowers from larger bulbs including daffodils. Cut or pinch through the flower stalk behind the seed capsule. It is best to leave the stalk in place at this produces food that will promote flowers in the following season.

Which plants should not be deadheaded?
There are garden plants that either don’t require deadheading or that it is best not to deadhead:

• Lobelias, salvias, begonias, impatiens and fuchsias either don’t set a great deal of seed or deadhead themselves naturally.
• Plants such as cornflowers and sunflowers produce seeds that are loved by birds. You can help the birds and attract them to your garden if you leave spent flowers on these plants.
• Viburnum and rambler roses produce hips or berries that are attractive features for your garden and that are popular with birds. These plants can imbue your garden with year-round interest.
• Plants such as love-in-a-mist (Nigella), stinking iris (Iris foetidissima), honesty (Lunaria annua) and Chinese lantern (Physalis alkekengi) have decorative seed heads and so it can be best to leave spent flowers in place.
• Certain plants produce so many flowers that they are impractical to deadhead. These include Spirea, Deutzia and alyssum (lobularia maritima).
• If plants are difficult to reach, there could be safety issues with deadheading and so you should not attempt to deadhead them. In many cases, it will not impact the floral display if you do not deadhead these plants.
• If you wish to collect seeds or would like certain plants to self-seed, leave spent flowers in place.

Deadheading is uncomplicated and requires no special skills. But it can be time-consuming if you have lots of containers or beds. However, if you spend just a few minutes each day deadheading your flowering plants, you can enhance the look of your garden and encourage an impressive display of beautiful blooms.