Deadheading Plants

Deadhead your bedding plants and repeat-flowering perennials, to ensure continuous flowering

By deadheading you will keep your plants looking attractive and encourage more blooms, whether in beds and border, containers or hanging baskets.

Most flowers will look less attractive as they fade, spoiling the overall appearance and are best removed. However, there are other reasons.  Regular deadheading is the removal of flowers from plants when they have faded or died. It is done to keep plants looking attractive and encourage re-flowering.  Deadheading will direct more energy into stronger growth and more flowers. Once the flowers are pollinated; seed heads, pods or capsules form at the expense of further growth and flower development.  It can also prevent plants with numerous petals, such as peonies, some camellias and many types of roses, from scattering debris widely around your garden.

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Plants to Deadhead:

The faded blooms of argyranthemums, pansies, polyanthus and petunias can be removed you’re your finger and thumb

Geraniums (Pelargonium): Hold the faded flower stalk near the base and pull downwards. The old bloom will snap out cleanly

Roses: Gently snap off the faded flowers, breaking the stalk just below the head (also see ‘Where to cut’ below)

Among the most important shrubs to deadhead are rhododendron (and azaleas), camellias, lilacs and tree peonies. Use secateurs to dead head where the flower joins the stem by snipping just below the flower head. Avoid damaging buds or developing growths immediately below the flower

Deadhead climbers where practical, particularly Eccremocarpus as it rapidly produces seed pods

Remove flowers from larger bulbs such as daffodils, along with the seed capsule. However, leave the green flower stalk in place as this photosynthesises thus helping to build up the bulb to flower well next season.

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Regularly Waters Tubs & New Plants

Watering is one of the most important jobs during the hot summer months when growing plants in containers. Roots need a balance of air and water to grow, which is easy to provide if you have a really good quality compost or soil.

Plants don't grow well if their roots are in very wet compost (not enough air) and plants will often benefit if the compost is allowed to dry a little between waterings. How much you need to water is very weather dependant.

There is no need for hanging baskets and containers to drip after watering: bedding plants generally perform well when watered little, but daily.

An irrigation system installed 5cm (2in) below the soil surface, through porous hose systems, will increase plant quality even when the upper soil is dust-dry.  Over watering can lead to poor quality plants.

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Lawn Care During July

At this time of year, the lawn is actively growing and how you look after it depends on what you want to achieve. To encourage wildflowers for pollinating insects, it's time to stop mowing and enjoy the visits to the flowers that appear.

Over summer for a conventional lawn, mow twice weekly, dropping to once a week or longer during periods of drought, especially during July and August. Flower-rich lawns can be mown every four to six weeks. Long grassed lawns are best cut once or twice in the summer, usually not before June.

Try to avoid excessively close mowing, as although attractive, it can weaken the grass, encouraging shallow rooting and making the lawn more susceptible to drought, weeds and moss. Close-mown lawns will need more frequent feeding and watering. Extremely low cutting may scalp the lawn, leaving bare patches where there are bumps or tree roots protruding above the surface.

All lawns will need feeding in order to maintain vigour. When feeding, look out for signs of pest or disease and deal with moss as and when required. These can often be controlled with cultural methods such as raking. Regular maintenance is the best way to approach a lawn, and may avoid the need for renovation later on.

If you require any assistance with your garden please contact CG Garden Services for a free no obligation quote on 01323 727571.  We cover Eastbourne and surrounding areas such as Hailsham, Polegate, Langney, Stone Cross, Pevensey and Cooden.  We offer gardening services including weeding, planting, grass cutting, pruning, hedge trimming etc.