Aug 5

Aug 5 How To Keep Your Plants Overflowing With Flowers- You've Got To Be Cruel To Be Kind

I used to own the biggest organic herb company in the country and the question I was asked the most was “Will this grow?”

The answer was always the same “Yes”….look them in the eye and pause…”If you water it and remove the flowers”. The response to the answer was always the same “Urgh” and “Ohh!”

This was my advice to keep your herbs producing leaves, to completely remove the flowers when they start to sprout, as all the plant wants to do is make flowers, it will put all it’s energy into producing flowers and stop making the bit you want to eat - the leaves.

HOW TO KEEP YOUR FLOWERS FLOWING

The same rule applies to your ornamentals, except you remove the flower when the blooms are starting to fade - this is called DEADHEADING. The plant still desperately wants to make flowers, so by removing the dying ones, the plant will produce more.

The more you deadhead, the more flowers you will have, for longer. Plus, if you do it at night, you can scare the house by announcing your “just popping out to deadhead in the garden”.

HOW OFTEN SHOULD YOU DEADHEAD?

Very often. All the time. When you see one, when you float past in your bohemian kaftan, or at the same time every morning/noon/night. Whenever pleases you.

ARE THERE EXCEPTIONS?

YES! There always are. It’s gardening, you have to learn the hard way and you only get one attempt a year.

FOOD - don’t remove the flowers from fruit or vegetable plants, as that is where the fruit and veg comes from. If you remove the flowers you will not get a crop.
HYDRANGEAS - don’t ask me. You need a PHD in Applied Astro Hydrangeology. I’m sorry.
ASTILBES - just leave them.

Blueberries - don’t deadhead your fruit and veg plants

WHERE & HOW DO YOU DO IT?

I like to get my hands in and pinch them out with my fingers if the stems are soft enough. If they are tough and woody I use scissors. The best point to snip is at the end of the flower stem, leaving the main branch undamaged.

Deadhead geranium Attar of Roses - Turkish delight

If you’d like to see my video demo, please take a stroll over to my YouTube channel where there are other entertaining gardening delights, plus a short deadheading tutorial below. Thank you very much!