Here, gardening experts share everything you need to know to master the simple technique. Once flowers start to fade, plants start to turn their attention to generating seeds instead. “At that time the plant’s energy is focused on the development of the seeds rather than the flowers,” Wilkniss explains. By removing dead flowers, you’re telling your plant to keep producing new flowers instead of putting all its energy into seeds. “This results in healthier plants and a second or perhaps continual blooms,” she adds. In short, deadheading helps your garden produce more flowers and stay in bloom for longer, which is great for you and your local pollinators. Some plants are also self-cleaning. Their flowers naturally fall once spent, making deadheading unnecessary. And then there are the varieties that you actually want to go to seed, like edible plants and flowers that have attractive seed pods. Sabine H. Schoenberg, the CEO and co-founder of Smart Healthy Green Living, adds that some plants must reseed in order to bloom the following year and really shouldn’t be deadheaded. When in doubt, double-check that yours will appreciate the trim. Here are a few varieties that Schoenberg and Wilkniss say don’t need deadheading: Once you see a large patch of faded blooms, simply “shear away the top few inches of the plant to remove the spent blossoms.” This will help the entire plant grow back stronger. Once you have your pile of spent flowers, add them to your compost bin so their nutrients can return to the land with time. Emma received her B.A. in Environmental Science & Policy with a specialty in environmental communications from Duke University. In addition to penning over 1,000 mbg articles on topics from the water crisis in California to the rise of urban beekeeping, her work has appeared on Grist, Bloomberg News, Bustle, and Forbes. She’s spoken about the intersection of self-care and sustainability on podcasts and live events alongside environmental thought leaders like Marci Zaroff, Gay Browne, and Summer Rayne Oakes.
