Deadheading: Is It a Dead or Unnecessary Gardening Task?

Deadheading of annuals and perennials: Is it a dead or unnecessary summer task?

In gardening, deleting steps from the routine is advisable. With so much to do, there is no time for completing a task that is less-than-valuable. 

Deadheading

So what about the summer task of deadheading? Deadheading is the manual removing of spent blooms. Flowering plants offer pretty blooms. Those blooms delight for as long as possible. And then what? The worst that can happen next… is it just the sight of browned, crisp blooms that have gone by? Well, yes, and no.

For some annuals—for example, the window box favorites, Pansies and Violas—deadheading seems to be mainly for tidying up. But pinching off flowers after their happy faces have stopped smiling… well, it serves a purpose that is far more important. Deadheading puts a stop to one of the signals that will tell these plants it is time to “go to seed”. To completely avoid deadheading these annuals is to eventually see leggy stems holding seed heads that develop in places you were hoping new flowers would emerge. To keep them flowering vigorously for as long as possible, the summer task of deadheading is necessary.

For perennials that bloom once each summer, cutting out stems that have held flowers will help your plants direct their focus to roots, leaves, and building energy-stores to enable the plants to survive winter and flourish next summer. 

If you have reblooming perennials—say, Reblooming Irises—a second flush of summer flowers, “promised” late in the season, will likely not appear if you have failed to deadhead. Reblooming perennials are an investment; to get your money’s worth, pull out the snips. With Irises, you might shy away from cutting healthy stems. But unless those stems are budding, cut away. The Iris will send up new stems for a new round of late-season flowering. Reaping the benefit of such rebloomers entails committing to deadheading.

Timing and Method of this Summer Task

It is not just about committing to deadheading. It is also about the timing of when you complete this summer task, and the way you do it: The differences between acting quickly and taking your time, and the differences between a “take a little off the top” approach and a “deep cuts” approach, are important. Timing and methods varying with different types of plants.

So, about the approach: I love “deep cuts” on a record album—those songs that are unknown to the masses but all-important to me. Irises, too, love deep cuts. Gingerly bend off their spent blooms, being careful not to disturb unopened buds. Later, once all blooms have opened and then faded, cut the stem very low, close to where the fan emerges from the rhizome. (Keep the fan intact... no leaf cutting.) With a low cut made after the last bloom has gone by, you will tidy your plant while doing your best to coax out a second round of blooms at summer’s end. 

If Hemerocallis, or Daylilies, are your favorites, use a method similar to that used for Irises. You might not remove spent blooms devotedly (too many), but once a stem has done its duty, cut it just above the plant’s crown. If you let these perennials develop seed heads—one is pictured here—you can guess what happens next. It is like premature aging of these plants during summer… better that the seed heads never develop.

Spirea needs a real shearing right after its blooms have faded, no time to wait. With this early summer task behind you, you can be pretty well assured that you will see more flowers as the season progresses. With Spirea, the approach is one of giving a full trim: “Take a few inches off, all around.” But don't use this approach with another flowering shrub, the Hydrangea. The Hydrangea requires one of several approaches depending on whether you have a Panicle Hydrangea, a Big Leaf.... That's another story for another day.

Deadheading Roses is a necessary summer task. The paper-thin, browned petals of their spent blooms stick on thorns, leaves, and new buds, especially when rain gets in the mix. Unsightly. But beyond maintaining the attractiveness of the Rose, deadheading serves to keep the plant's focus on flowering. For Roses, I choose a spot where an off-shoot stem meets a main stem, and I cut at an angle, right above that intersection. Remembering that deadheading is not pruning, this simple method works for me. I make way for new blooms with these simple cuts. In September, I stop deadheading, opting to let my Roses produce attractive hips (seed pods), which I consider ornamental.

Recounting the Reasons for Deadheading (and Adding One More)

So tidying up, coaxing out a second round of blooms, helping a plant not go to seed prematurely… all are reasons to engage in the summer task of deadheading. If there is the odd year when you absolutely cannot get into your garden, then failing to complete this summer task will not ruin your perennials. But deadheading will make them look and perform better… good reasons to pull out the clippers. And then comes yet another reason: Deadheading is helpful when plants have invasive tendencies, forming and dropping seeds to achieve their “invasion”.

True reveal: I had a small patch of Conoclinium Coelestinum, the tall Blue Mistflower. It showed beautifully in late summer during its second year. Later, the patch grew. Now, in Year 4, one garden bed has been almost overtaken by this seed-dropping plant—a plant I love but cannot handle in such multitudes. Guess what? I was not deadheading. I am now paying the price.

So, is deadheading a dead or unnecessary task? If you happen to have a garden filled with nothing but self-cleaning plants (those bred to shed their own spent blooms), then maybe…. But if you are like me, with a wide range of annuals and perennials, deadheading is an important task—a practice that must be kept very much alive. So, put on your gloves, pull out the snips, and join me. A trim here, a deep cut there… we can do it.