How do I deadhead flowers, and does it actually help?
Why removing spent flowers extends flowering, where to make the cut on different plants, and the ones you should deliberately leave alone.
- Difficulty
- beginner
- Time
- 30 min
- Read
- 3 min
Short answer
A plant that sets seed stops flowering, because it has done its job. Removing the spent flower before the seed forms keeps it trying. Cut back to the next bud, leaf or side shoot rather than snapping the head off, and leave anything grown for its seed heads or hips.
Deadheading is one of the few garden jobs where a small amount of regular effort produces an obvious, immediate result — often weeks of extra flowering from bedding, roses and repeat-flowering perennials.
What you'll need
- Secateurs or snips
- Fingers for soft-stemmed plants
- Bucket
Step by step
- Understand what you are doing.Flowering exists to produce seed. Remove the developing seed and the plant flowers again to try once more. This works on repeat-flowering plants and does nothing for once-flowering ones.
- Cut back to a bud or leaf, not just the flower.Snapping off the petals leaves the seed pod behind and achieves nothing. Cut down the stem to the first strong bud, leaf joint or side shoot.
- Pinch bedding plants with your fingers.Petunias, pansies, marigolds and similar soft-stemmed plants deadhead fastest by pinching the whole spent flower and its stalk off between finger and thumb.
- Deadhead roses to a five-leaflet leaf.On repeat-flowering bush roses, cut back to just above an outward-facing leaf with five leaflets. On floribundas, remove the whole spent truss down to a strong bud.
- Cut whole flowered stems on perennials.Delphinium, lupin, salvia, catmint and geranium respond to having the whole flowered stem cut back to the base. Many produce a complete second flush.
- Shear back some plants entirely.Hardy geraniums, alchemilla, catmint and aubrieta can be sheared over hard after flowering. They regrow fresh foliage and often flower again within weeks.
- Leave the ones grown for seed and fruit.Rose hips, honesty, teasel, allium and grass seed heads, and anything you want to self-seed. Removing those loses the whole autumn and winter display.
- Leave once-flowering plants alone.Deadheading a rambling rose that flowers once, or spring bulbs, does not produce more flowers. On bulbs, remove the seed pod but let the leaves die down naturally to feed next year's bulb.
- Do it little and often.Five minutes with secateurs every few days through summer keeps everything flowering. An hour once a month is far less effective, because seed will already have set.
Tips
- Removing the petals is not deadheading — the seed pod is what has to go.
- Shear hardy geraniums and catmint right back after flowering and they flower again.
- Never remove bulb foliage early. The leaves are building next year's flower.
Common mistakes
- Deadheading everything, including plants grown for seed heads — You lose the autumn and winter interest, the bird food and the self-sown seedlings. Decide which plants you want to seed before you start.
- Tying or cutting daffodil leaves after flowering — The leaves are feeding next year's bulb. Remove the seed pod, leave the leaves for at least six weeks until they yellow naturally.
If it doesn't work
Deadheaded but no more flowers
Cause: A once-flowering variety — Fix: Nothing is wrong. Some roses, peonies and most bulbs flower once regardless.
Bedding plants stopped in July
Cause: Seed set while deadheading was skipped — Fix: Cut back hard, feed with a high-potash liquid feed, and water. Many recover within a fortnight.
Sparse growth after deadheading roses
Cause: Cut back too far, or to inward-facing buds — Fix: Cut to an outward-facing five-leaflet leaf and feed.
Plant looks bare after shearing
Cause: Normal for two or three weeks — Fix: Water and feed. Hardy geraniums and catmint refoliate quickly.
Questions people ask
Does deadheading really make plants flower longer?
On repeat-flowering plants, yes and noticeably — bedding, most modern roses, dahlias, cosmos and many perennials. On once-flowering plants it makes no difference to flowering at all.
Where exactly should I cut?
Back to the first strong bud, leaf joint or side shoot below the spent flower. On roses, an outward-facing leaf with five leaflets. Never just pull the petals off.
What should I not deadhead?
Anything grown for hips, berries or seed heads, anything you want to self-seed, and spring bulbs beyond removing the seed pod.