How to Get Rid of Sunflowers

Sunflowers are an annual plant that will die on their own at the end of the growing season.

Sunflowers come in a wide variety of bloom and stalk sizes, ranging from small flowers that grow to just 2 feet high to those that can grow up to 15 feet tall. An annual flower, sunflowers will not come back year after year in most places. Although sunflowers will not usually come back after you remove them, they can be difficult to get out of the ground -- especially if they are very tall and have a thick stalk. It's important to cut the flowers down, then pull the whole plant out of the ground and rake up seeds left behind.

Things You'll Need

• Chalk or paint
• Pruning or lopping shears
• Rake

Instructions

1. Mark the sunflowers you want to get rid of with a chalk or paint mark.

2. Cut the stems of the sunflower close to the ground with pruning or lopping shears, depending on the thickness of the stalk. Very tall sunflowers often have very thick stalks, so a set of lopping shears may be needed.

3. Compost the stalks and flowers. Very large sunflowers may need to be cut up into multiple pieces before putting in the compost pile.

4. Pull out completely the stem or stalk of each sunflower you cut down. This will eliminate the sunflower from the bed.

5. Rake up any seeds that have fallen on the ground to keep them from reseeding next year if you don't want sunflowers there.

Tips & Warnings

• Save any sunflower seeds from the sunflowers you cut down, if you wish to use them for eating or bird seed.

References

• University of Arkansas Extension: Sunflower - Plant of the Week; Gerald Klingaman; September 6, 2002
• University of Hawaii: Sunflowers; Jayme Grzebik; March 2009
• University of Florida Extension: Beware the Bolivians; Dan Culbert; September 10, 2006