Gardening: What is Deadheading and Why Should We Do It?

Deadheading is the practice of removing plant flowers after they have faded in gardening. A flowering plant uses the majority of its energy to produce flowers and seeds because that is what it does best. Redirecting that energy back into the production of leaves and roots by removing faded blooms can help the plant stay healthy and live longer.

In addition to promoting new blooms, deadheading can help the garden look cleaner. Both annuals and perennials can profit from deadheading. But not all plants require deadheading, and not all plants that are deadheaded bloom again.

The Benefits

This practice has a lot of advantages. First, many plants' spent blooms can eventually become slimy and unsightly, making them excellent candidates for deadheading. Another justification for giving them a trim is that disease and pests can be drawn to sick or decaying flowers.

Deadheading perennials that bloom in the spring will help them focus their energy on developing robust roots for the following season. The perennial coreopsis, for instance, will continue to bloom later in the season if the flowers are removed.

Similar to this, deadheading plants whose primary purpose is foliage, like artemisia or leafy green vegetables, will encourage them to maintain strong leaves rather than flowers. Since biennials flower in their second year of growth, experts recommend against deadheading if the plants are meant to self-sow and produce new plants the following year. They even concur that the buds should be completely removed before they open.

The Timing

It is simple to determine when to deadhead flowers. Instead of facing the sun, the petals will turn brown and droop toward the ground. Remove flowerheads to encourage the plant to produce new flowers before the seeds have a chance to form.

The Right Tools

The only tools required are the gardener's thumb and forefinger for plants like pansies, daylilies, petunias, sage, coleus, and yarrow that have stems that are fleshy and simple to pinch. Just give the stem a little pinch just below the flowerhead.

Using garden pruners or scissors is more useful for stems that are woody, stiffer, or thorny. On coneflowers, cosmos, bee balm, lupines, foxglove, and roses, pruning shears are advised. Cut the stem of roses at a 45-degree angle away from the bud eye using shears.

With one hand, gather the flowers from plants that produce profusions of blooms, such as candytuft (Iberis) or catmint (Nepeta), and trim the blooms back with larger hedge shears. 3 inches of foliage should be left.

Using clean tools will reduce the risk of damaging stems and exposing them to rot and disease. When cleaning gardening tools, experts suggest using a bleach solution diluted to 10%. After cleaning, thoroughly rinse.

Hitting the Right Spot

Cut the entire stem of a plant with a single flower on it back to the base.

Deadhead back to the first set of leaves on plants that have multiple flowers on each stem. Only the dead flowers should be removed; take care not to harm any that are still in the process of budding. It is best to use pruners to deadhead numerous flowers at once when all of the flowers have finished blooming.

Experts advise deadheading back to the new bud or flower if new buds or flowers are forming beneath the apical or terminal flower or bud. Deadheading back to the first leaf below the flower is preferable if no new buds or flowers can be seen, Treehugger reports.

The Aftermath

After deadheading, plants will experience some shock from being pruned back, so water them liberally to strengthen them, preferably with compost tea. Using a garden fork to aerate the soil may also be beneficial.

To return the nutrients from the deadheaded flowers to the soil, either gather them and place them in a compost bin or simply spread them as mulch. As an alternative, assemble lovely petals to make a dried arrangement or herbal bouquet.

Related article: Indoor Plant Care: Basic Watering Dos and Don'ts