DIY Network

Deadheading Deadheadingvvv From "Ask DIY Gardening" episode DADG-211

Deadheading. It sounds painful, but deadheading really can be advantageous to your flowering plants. Gardening expert Walter Reeves explains why.

advertisement

Q: I buy annuals every year, and read that I should deadhead them, but I'm not quite sure what this means. Can you give me a lesson?

A: You're exactly right: annuals should be deadheaded, and you should deadhead some perennials as well. Here are the basic techniques you'll need to deadhead the plants in your garden to promote growth and also keep them looking neat and tidy.

Let's start by explaining exactly what deadheading is and why you need to do it. Deadheading just means to remove the spent blooms. And there are a couple of reasons to do it: to improve the look of the plant and to prevent the plant from going to seed.

There are several methods of deadheading:

• The simple method for deadheading annuals is simply to pinch the spent blooms off the plants. You don't need any special tools for this, just your fingers.

• If the stems are too tough to pinch back with your fingers, use scissors or pruners to cut off the flower heads.

• Petunias are a good example of an annual plant that will get too leggy if you don't remove the spent bloom, but you can't just remove the bloom -- you have to remove the entire seedpod.

• A good example of a perennial flower that extends its blooming period with deadheading is the daylily. You have two choices with this plant: you can either remove the spent flower every day, or you can wait until all the buds on the scape (stalk) have opened and then remove the entire scape.

• Different perennials will produce different results from deadheading, but in general, if you cut the stems down to the crown of the plant, you should prolong the growing season and keep the plant looking neater.

• Some perennials can be cut all the way back in the middle of the growing season, and they will come back again one more time.

It never hurts to do a little trial and error, but keep a diary of what plants did best with what methods and then, year by year, your garden will look better.