Guest Author - Hellie T.

The plants in your English Garden are flowering their socks off for you so why do you need to deadhead?

What does deadhead mean?

Deadheading a plant means you take off all the fading or dead blooms. Perennials especially benefit from this as not only does it improve their appearance but it stops them setting seed and encourages them to produce more flowers.

How do I deadhead my flowers?

Dead blooms are easily cut off using secateurs. You need to cut off part or the entire flower stem with the faded bloom.
You can use your finger and thumb on some plants to nip off the dead flowers if their stems are not to tough. If you are finding it difficult then use secateurs or kitchen scissors and wear gloves if you are deadheading roses!
You will need a container to collect all the dead blooms in.

If your plant has lots of small flowers then you can trim it lightly with your scissors as if giving it a haircut rather then dealing with each individual bloom.



The whole essence of an English Garden is to have as many flowers as you can so you get that feeling of abundance and lushness. Deadheading your flowering plants helps to extend their flowering season and improves their appearance.

Once the flowers have been pollinated their job is done and they will start to form seedheads and drop their petals – nature then directs all the plants energy into growing the seedheads. By removing the fading flowers you stop this and the plant will produce more flowers.

Plants such as delphiniums, foxgloves, antirrhinums, lupins, feverfew, Verbascum, scabiosa, and phlox will usually produce another show of flowers later in the season if you deadhead after the first flush of flowers.

Annuals grown in containers and pots/tubs will benefit from deadheading as this will give you a better display throughout the summer season.


When Should I Deadhead my Flowers?

The longer you leave it the more likely the flower will have put its energy into seed production. So the best time to deadhead is when the flower has faded, gone brown or died.
Some flowers, such as Lilacs, need to be cut off as soon as they have faded otherwise you may cut off the next year's blooms which start to form also immediately the blooms die.

When not to deadhead

If you want to save the seed from a particular plant – then don’t deadhead – just let the plant develop its seed pods which you can collect later for next year’s flowers. Plants such as Rosea rugosa which has spectacular red hips add drama to an autumn garden and make good indoor decorations.

Enjoy your garden!