Keep dead-heading in the borders
Don’t ease off on essential dead-heading process of flowers
There are several hints that autumn is not too far away. Lower evening temperatures, ornamental fruits ripening in garden and countryside, ripe apples falling from trees. But I’m not ready for that yet. So, recent efforts have concentrated on keeping the mid and late summer border plants blooming.
Foremost in this is the simple dead-heading process of removing spent flowers down to the nearest leaf joint.
Annuals and many perennials respond by producing new bloom buds in their natural drive toward seed production. Continuity of colour comes when this is a daily occurrence.
Dead heading on a weekly basis, leads to a build-up of spent blooms and when they’re removed there’s a disappointing void. In the case of annual bedding, basket and container plants this can be short-lived as existing lateral stems rise to the fore and shine.
However, roses, especially after a period of wet weather wipes out the existing display, can take a few weeks to recover equilibrium. Little and often is best for them.
Watering and feeding also help keep the summer flowering extravaganza on the road.
Anything planted in containers, from ornamentals to dwarf fruit trees and bushes, will exhaust both elements rapidly.
Don’t ease off on either of these essentials simply because there’s a hint of autumn in the morning air.
Walk along any of the flower borders in this garden, and areas of bare soil are difficult to find. There is an abundance of lush summer growth which by September can become overpowering.
Some plants can be rather aggressive and would take over given a chance, so the caring gardener must undertake some decisive pruning to protect less invasive varieties in bloom.
We’ve recently reduced some nepeta ‘Six Hills Giant’ (catmint) that had ceased flowering, also a few herbaceous geraniums, including ‘Rozanne’.
Both will respond with new growth and possibly repeat flowering. Meanwhile two less vigorous salvias they’d been smothering, ‘Hot Lips’ and ‘Nachtvlinder’, have been given space to continue flowering. Several of the early herbaceous perennials are now carrying ungainly stems so it’s time to remove them and see how rudbeckias, cosmos, asters, sedum and autumn crocus thrive in the extra space.