what does "cut back" really mean??

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miavcr Valley Village, CA May 05, 2009

I am new to gardening. I keep reading that after a plant blooms, i should cut it back to promote a second bloom. What exactly does this mean? do i just cut off the dead bloom, or do i cut the stems back? if so, how far back do i cut?
thank you so much in advance.
Mia

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NatureLover1950 Vicksburg, MS(Zone 8a) May 05, 2009

Some people cut the entire plant back, usually to within a couple of inches of the ground, and for some plants this is the best thing to do. It will take the plant a while to regrow and bloom again with this method. I prefer to simply deadhead which is just cutting off each spent bloom. When I do this, my flowers always give me a much longer bloom time--and don't we all want that? :-}

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EllaTiarella Portage, MI(Zone 5b) May 05, 2009

To the best of my knowledge, it depends on the specific plant.

Deadheading: Most (but not all) perennials benefit from deadheading. The main benefit is that it promotes more flowers. Additionally, it prevents the plant from devoting any energy to seed production, i.e. the plant produces more flowers or stronger stems, leaves, roots.

Cutting back: A few perennials can also be sheared back after the blooming season. For some plants, shearing back is an easier way to deadhead; this is especially true where the flowers are very small. But other plants can be deadheaded, and then later sheared back to reinvigorate the plant, to keep it from becoming lanky, and in some cases to promote a subsequent flush of bloom.

Post #6509009
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May 06, 2009

The reason deadheading promotes more blooms is that plant have an internal number of seeds they have to produce to reproduce their specie. Removing blooms before they set seeds decreases that number. Plants react by sending more blooms.

Whether you shear or deadhead depends on the variety and your zone. In colder zones I would not shear back. Having said that, creeping phlox is an exception. It will not rebloom, but will make for a more compact plant. Likewise with most creeping non-succulent and succulent plants. Gysophila repens (Creeping Baby's Breath, however, will rebloom.

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