Why Deadheading is Good, and Why I Don't Do it Very Much

I'm basically a lazy gardener. I don't mind admitting it. Since I've confessed, it should come as no surprise to you that I don't often engage in the practice of deadheading my spent flowers. In fact, my friends, who tend to be neater gardeners than I am, feel compelled to pick off the seed heads on my mixed borders when I'm not looking.

Even though I don't do it very often, I do recognize that deadheading is a good thing, for a variety of reasons. Some of those reasons are even good enough to make me take a few seconds of effort, and do some snipping.

Deadheading is the simple act of removing the flowering portion of a plant after it has finished blooming. The most common reason to do so is to encourage a plant to send up more buds and bloom again. This is especially helpful with annuals, which live only one season. Their entire reason for life, or so it would seem, is to create seeds for the next generation of plants. If the spent blooms are removed the seeds can't develop, so the plant will try again with new flowers. If you're truly on the ball, you can keep many annual flowers blooming from spring to frost.

Many perennials will only bloom once each year, but a few will also rebloom if the old flowers are removed to prevent the production of seeds. For instance, most Campanulas, the bellflowers and balloon flowers, will rebloom if you keep them from setting seed. Other perennials that are known to rebloom are yarrow, asters, black-eyed Susans, and sage.

Another reason for deadheading makes less sense to me, since I'm both a messy and lazy gardener. This is the removal of the seed heads to keep the garden looking neat and tidy. I know this is a good thing, and I do enjoy touring a well-kept garden that has been cleaned up on a regular basis by pulling off any old and sagging blooms. My excuse for leaving the seeds to ripen is that many birds and small mammals will eat the seeds during the hungry winter months if they're left on the plant.

Many critters will eat echinacea seeds, and I think the seedheads are quite attractive in the garden. Birds also love the seeds of black-eyed Susans, zinnias, daisies, any form of amaranth, and sunflowers, of course. Ornamental grasses also have seeds that can keep many winter birds well fed, and the seed heads are an attractive sight in the late autumn garden. Even on plants that don't look very neat and tidy I still leave the seeds. I tell myself I'm not just a lazy gardener - I'm also doing the birds a favor by letting the plants live out their natural life cycles.

The final reason for deadheading even convinces me of it's practicality, and that is to prevent the spread of ornamental plants that can become invasive. Quite a number of plants sold in local nurseries can also to be found on invasive species lists. For instance, the butterfly bush, Buddleja davidii, is classified as a noxious weed in some states, but you can buy one in almost every nursery. I have never seen a wild one growing in an abandoned lot, but there are plenty of people who say they can get 'loose' and out-compete native plants. I like my butterfly bush, but I do keep the old flowers picked off, even though I grumble a little while I'm doing it.

I avoid planting most invasive species, and I'm now in the process of pulling out and attempting to kill off the English ivy that the previous owners planted against my western fence, to prevent it from blooming ever again. It's easier to avoid planting invasives than it is to religiously deadhead them - besides, there's always the chance that a bird will find a seed before you do, and plant it in your neighbor's yard or the nearest stretch of wild forest land. Each state has a list of invasive ornamental plants, and your local agricultural extension office can help you find it. My advice is to choose a native ornamental plant instead of an invasive plant that was imported from abroad. Then you can leave those seeds for the birds, and become a lazy gardener, like me.