I will admit that deadheading is not one of my favorite yard chores to do, but it is very necessary. Regular deadheading is as important as regular weeding. Let's talk about why you need to deadhead your faded flowers and the correct way to do it! Here's how to deadhead plants for a healthy and beautiful yard!
Why Do You Need To Deadhead Your Plants?
Reason #1
Clipping the spent blooms on your plants helps your yard look fresh and tidy. A flower bed full of dead flowers is much less appealing than one with fresh, colorful flowers.
Reason #2
If you don't deadhead your plants, they will form seeds. The plant uses a lot of energy to form seeds which is why flower production slows down if you don't get rid of the dying flowers. You especially want to deadhead your herbs since the leaves start to lose flavor as the plant flowers. Some plants vigorously reseed themselves causing your flower beds and lawns to be a mess the following year. Anemones and Blanket Flower are the worst offenders in my yard.
If you have some flowers that you want to collect seeds from or if you want them to reseed and fill in the area, leave a few of them on the plant to form seed pods and deadhead the rest. I have a post all about saving seeds if you are interested.
Reason #3
Deadheading encourages your plants to grow even more blooms! Clipping the spent flowers triggers new growth and new flowers and keeps your flowerbed and yard looking its best the entire growing season. Just like how pinching your seedlings encourages branching, clipping a spent blossom sends a signal to the plant to keep growing instead of forming seeds. Depending on the plant, you can get a second bloom, or continually blooms throughout the season if you keep up on deadheading. There are some plants like peonies, that won't bloom again. But removing the old blooms will send the plant's energy to the roots instead of seed production.
Reason #4
Regular deadheading also allows you to get an up close look at your plants so you can see if there are problems such as pests, diseases, or they need to be better supported/staked. You can weed and deadhead at the same time too and knock out 2 birds with one stone, so to speak.
How To Deadhead Plants
Tools Needed
Use sharp clippers or scissors. I have really nice clippers. Three pairs to be exact. But I can't always find them so I sometimes grab scissors. As long as they are sharp, it works great. I make sure to have a basket or bucket handy to throw the old deadhead flowers in for easier clean up.
Cut Deep
Since I don't love this chore, I often recruit my kids to help. I forgot to teach one of my sons how to deadhead and he proceeded to only cut the actual bloom off, leaving spiky stems all over the plant. I then had to go back over it to cut deeper and remove the stems. A good rule of thumb is to cut all the way down to the next set of leaves. If you do this on a regular basis, you will be rewarded with beautiful blooms!
Look Out For Buds
Cut deep, but keep an eye out for the new little flower buds that are forming. I follow the flower stem down until I see a new bud forming and cut just above it. Goodbye faded blooms and hello new ones!
Flowers That Don't Need To Be Deadheaded
While most annual flowers and perennial plants need to be deadheaded for optimal bloom time, some flowers kind of clean up after themselves and don't need you to come along and clip the dead flower heads.
Some examples of flowers that don't need to be deadheaded are lantana, vinca, begonia, impatients, petunias, astilbe, poppies, and any flower that you like the look of the seed pod as much as (or more than) the flower.
Deadheading, while not my favorite chore, is quite rewarding when it results in more flowers and an extended season of blooming. I try to listen to audiobooks and tackle this job in the morning when it's cool. When possible I recruit my kids to help so it goes a bit faster. And some years I simply don't keep up with it like I should. Luckily, there is always next year to be a little better about it.
Do you deadhead your plants?
Comment Below!