What Does Deadheading Flowers Mean?

If you have ever watched a gardening show, you may have caught yourself asking the question what does deadheading flowers mean? Is it something that requires 20 steps and 10 specialized tools?

When a flower is spent or dead, it is typically removed from the plant. The removal of the spent flower is called deadheading.

This post is all about what does deadheading flowers mean and the tools you need to keep blooms all season.

Now that you have heard the term and understand what it means, how do you actually do it?

1. What kind of tools do I need?

When it comes to deadheading, you don’t need many tools. You actually may not need tools at all. If you decide to buy tools, you can purchase snips or pruning shears. Most of the time, you can use your fingers to pull and twist the bloom off to remove it from the plant.

2. Method of Removal

When you deadhead flowers, your goal is to regenerate growth in place of spent blooms. The flower has died and will not grow back.

Use pruning shears, snips, or your hands to remove the flower right before the node or where the stem intersects with another stem. Sometimes the flower is so dry that you can simply grab the stem and twist it off. Other times, you will need snips or pruning shears for a nice even cut on a bigger and tougher stem.

3. Results

Once you deadhead your plants, you will notice that it has a clean and more even look. The plant now has more energy to create new blooms. Within a couple of days to a week, you should start to see massive new growth of buds and blooms. You don’t want your plant to put a lot of energy into a flower that is not growing anymore. Deadheading is different for each species of plant. Be sure to do some research on the type of plant you are going to deadhead prior to starting the process. Some plants don’t benefit from deadheading or it should be done at a certain time during the growing season.

You should deadhead whenever you see spent or dead blooms. Just simply remove a few blooms on a daily basis as you walk by your garden. Or, you can set aside some time to deadhead every couple of weeks. This deadheading process will keep your plant looking voluminous, and it will grow better foliage and blooms throughout the rest of the growing season.

This post was all about what does deadheading flowers mean and the steps needed to create lush blooms all summer.