

A.
Deadheading - what an ominous sounding word. It makes one think that
something is being killed, when actually a very important task in the garden is
being taken care of. Not only will deadheading improve the appearance,
deadheading also helps the vigor of the plant and increases blooming time.
Deadheading simply
means removing the faded or dead flower heads from a plant. Like all
gardening chores, deadheading is both beneficial and necessary. It
lengthens the blooming time of some plants, increases the amount of blooms for
others and keeps the garden looking neat and properly cared for. In some
cases, deadheading is helpful in reducing the amount of new plants produced from
the numerous seeds that are dispersed naturally. Perennials as well as
annuals benefit from deadheading.
It is the nature
of perennials to bloom and then focus their energy on producing seed. Most
perennials have a certain amount of time, whether it be weeks or months, to
bloom each year. By deadheading, the usual amount of bloom time can be
increased, sometimes very dramatically. Coreopsis is a perfect
example. By de-budding the dead flowers every day or so, the coreopsis in
my garden bloom from March to November. This de-budding can be very time
consuming but well worth the beautiful display of flowers for such a long period
of time. Daylilies also respond well to deadheading by continuing to
produce blooms after dead flowers are removed.
Annuals are
genetically designed to produce flowers, set seed and die all in one
season. However, by using a diligent and regular program of deadheading,
their blooming season can usually be lengthened. When the spent blooms are
removed, the plan delays seed production and its energy is used to produce more
flowers. Marigolds and zinnias respond exceedingly well to deadheading -
prompting them to be much more prolific bloomers. Petunias and pansies
become very sparse when not deadheaded. Leggy stems can be cut back to the
ground, which induces the plant to put on new growth and sometimes another round
of blooms.
Deadheading is
usually done by snipping off the flower head with the thumb and
forefinger. This technique is fine for small-stemmed plants such as
salvia, euryops and copper canyon daisy. When plants have thicker stems,
such as rudbeckia, purple coneflower and daylilies, however, unnecessary tugging
on the stem may cause damage to the plant. In this case, sharp scissors or
pruners should be used. Both instances require a clean cut. Some
plants have a fine-textured foliage and produce a countless number of flowers,
such as dianthus, David Verity cuphea and cosmos. Deadheading individual
blooms would be very time consuming. Using a shearing tool or hedge
clippers not only gets rid of the dead flowers, but also keeps the plant compact
and shapely.
The growth habit
of a plant determines where the cut should be made. When a plant has
numerous stems, such as salvia, coreopsis or chrysanthemum, the stem should be
cut back to the first leaf or group of leaves. With plants that produce
stems with multiple flowers that open at different times, such as daylilies and
amaryllis, each bloom can be snipped off when it dies. Then when all the
blooms on the stem are gone, the entire stem should be clipped back to the
ground. Plants such as agapanthus and hosta that produce individual stems
of flowers above a clump of leaves, should be deadheaded at the lowest part of
the stem.
Sometimes seeds
are desired for either ornamental purposes or future propagation of
plants. In this case, snip off a quarter to a third of the flowers on a
plant and leave some of the seeds for the birds or for you to collect at a later
time for planting. In addition to deadheading, blooms can be collected at
their prime and used for fresh flowers in your home or for drying purposes.
Deadheading may be
considered extra work by some, but most gardeners will enjoy the time spent in
the garden, not to mention the favorable results obtained.

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