SHRUBS > sage > DEADHEADING

IN THIS GUIDE

SALVIA GUIDES

tall stems from a salvia shrub with small clusters of purple flowers growing along them

Common ProblemsContainer GrowingCuttings PropagationDeadheadingDivisionHarvestingOverwinteringPlantingPruningVarieties – Hot Lips – Common Sage – Pink Varieties – Woodland Sage

Salvias can be a grand choice for a UK garden .

These wildlife - friendly plant can , when care for correctly , flower for a long catamenia over the summer months and sometimes even beyond .

Salvia microphylla var. microphylla (Blackcurrant Sage) flowering in summer

Deadheading is one of the jobs to set about if you are originate these plants in your garden .

“ You should slant prune your sage regularly to keep them bushy , ” say Lyndi Garnett , one of the founding member of The Victorian Salvia Study Group .

As Lyndi says , deadheading is important for salvia because it will encourage the plant to put their muscularity into create new peak and blooming over a longer catamenia , rather than going to seed .

a cloth being used to clean the blades of orange secateurs

Of course , if you require to collect seeds from your salvias then you should not deadhead too zealously – and should permit them to enter their seed - produce phase .

However , if you would rather enjoy their flowers over a longer period , then keep reading .

1) Prepare Your Tools

Whenever you are deadheading or pruning , it is very of import to verify that your pecker are knifelike and white .

Blunt tools can cause hurt to plant life and , if you do not practise undecomposed hygiene in the garden , they can inadvertently scatter disease .

verify you have some tart , clean secateurs ready for this chore .

brown withering salvia flowers turning to seed with purple blooms still on show

2) Wait For Blooms To Fade

Salvias be given to start tobloom in May or June and can bloom right through the summerif you deadhead them .

If you do n’t , then the flowers will bloom only until around midsummer before they go to ejaculate , although you’re able to deadhead at different time of the year too :

“ Generally , salvias can be deadheaded at any time of the class , but they must be pruned at least once , ideally twice a class , ” says Lyndi .

gardener using a pair of secateurs to deadhead a salvia shrub growing outside

In the middle of summer , you should check over your salvias and bet for any flowering stalks that are turning brown .

The brownish colouration will begin at the base of the flowering area and work its way upwards .

Once around 70 - 80 % of the rosiness on a bloom capitulum have faded and turned brown , it is meter to view deadheading by remove that special efflorescence stem .

water being poured from a spout into the compost of a salvia plant

3) Deadhead Spent Flowering Stems

Cut off any spent florescence stems where the stem meets the gamey set of leaves on the plant .

Cut through the stem at this point with your uninfected and crisp secateurs .

New flowering stem should commonly mature off the sides of the existing stems .

You may care to double this process over the summertime to see as long a flower period as potential .

“ Do n’t tailor them back in fall ! ” warns Vicki Weston , possessor of Weston ’s Salvias .

“ Although the plants will take care a scrap bare in the deepest part of winter , wait until you could see unripened shoot at the very foot of the plant life , then you could tidy back and deadhead to a neat Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe .

“ You ’ll have to be patient with some but they will all shoot . ”

4) Feed In Mid-Summer

“ recollect to feed and mulch your plant after any kind of pruning , ” says Lyndi .

Feed your salvia with an constitutive , K - rich liquid plant provender in the middle of the summertime , especially when arise in container .

This will avail increase the chance of further flower and keep your plants as sizable as possible .