How Do I Deadhead a Plant?

Deadhead roses with gardening shears.

Deadheading is the process of removing flowers as they lose their color and begin to fade. This encourages the plant to direct energy into producing more flowers instead of producing seeds. Deadheading also helps your garden look tidy. It is a daily gardening chore which benefits both annual and perennial flowering plants. You can compost the deadheaded flowers or discard them in the trash.

Things You'll Need

• Gardening shears

Instructions

1. Wait until the flowers begin to fade. The petals will become droopy and the vibrant color may begin to brown.

2. Pinch the stem of the flower with your thumb and forefinger, just under the green portion at the bottom of the flower head. Press your thumbnail through the stem and lift the flower up and off the plant.

3. Cut the flower head off the stem with garden shears if the stem is too woody to pinch off with your fingers. Cut the flower off below the green base, just as you would with the thinner-stemmed flowers.

4. Repeat the removal of spent flowers throughout the growing season. For rapidly growing or heavily flowering plants, you may need to deadhead every day.

References

• National Home Gardening Club: How to Deadhead Flowers
• Our Ohio: Deadheading - Your Garden Will be Grateful