Dead heading plants

Today I spent the day in one garden dead heading plants.

Here are a few reasons to include deadheading as part of your routine garden maintenance:

Make the plant look neater: Dying flowers tend to turn brown and either dry or mushy. This can detract from the overall look you've worked so hard to achieve in your garden.

Encourage plants to set more flower buds: Plants flower in order to set seed. If their flowers are constantly being removed before they mature and go to seed, many plants, although not all, will simply set more. This will extend the length of the blooming season. Most annual flowers, such as petunias, zinnias, and marigolds, as well as many perennial plants, will continue to bloom throughout the growing season—if they are deadheaded. Rudbeckia and Echinacea are good examples of perennials that benefit from deadheading. They will repeat-bloom through the season if regularly deadheaded.

Help plants conserve energy: Removing dead blooms allows the plant to direct its energy toward improving its general health. Perennial flowers, such as Astilbe and peonies, bloom only once per year, even with deadheading. However, cutting back the flower stalks allows all the plant's energy to be put back into its roots and foliage, allowing it to regain any energy it lost to flowering and making for a generally hardier plant.