Today’s Garden Ideas

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Many people have the misconception that perennials are the most maintenance free flower. While this is somewhat true, you need to do some low maintenance pruning with your perennials over the summer to ensure a well groomed garden all summer long.

Pruning generally means deadheading your flowers, when you remove the spent heads to keep things looking tidy. In some cases with perennials you can cut your plants all the way to the ground. The advantages of pruning properly, is that you will be able to extend your next season’s bloom, and promote rebloom at the same time.

Deadheading will extend the bloom period of your flower and will encourage the growth of additional flowering buds. How far you prune will depend on your plant’s natural growth patters. Check the stem to see if any newer buds might be forming, and if there are, prune to just above the first flower bud. If you see no new buds, you can cut the stem right down to the ground, and this will encourage lush growth right at the base of your flower.

For perennials that have finer foliage and smaller flowers like geraniums, you don’t need to deadhead individual flowers. You can just prune by shearing the tops of the plants off after their bloom, or, even remove their foliage to about 4 to 6 inches off the ground. This will ensure the plants stay where they are and will also encourage rebloom.

Many perennials often run into the trouble of being too tall for their space. Or, they grow so tall they fall over. Reduce their size by cutting them back at least once before they bloom. This may delay your bloom a little bit, but you will find your plants will be shorter with more flowers.

Maintaining perennials this year will not only keep your garden looking well groomed, but it will also ensure that next year your perennials give back beautiful blooms that are well maintained right from the beginning of the season.