Should you deadhead echinacea? Garden experts share their advice on whether to chop or not

As a relative of the daisy, it's no wonder echinacea is a popular pick bloom amongst many gardeners. But to ensure this pretty flower thrives, should you be deadheading once the blooms are spent?

With the list of so many plants you shouldn't deadhead it can feel like a bit of a gamble as to whether specific species will benefit from it or not. The last thing you want is to cause more damage to your spent flowers, stopping them from regrowing the next year.

To save you the panic and potential harm to your echinacea, we've asked gardening experts for their guidance on deadheading.

Should you deadhead echinacea? Expert advice

When it comes to sorting your garden out, deadheading is a fantastic step for improving the health of your plants and their overall appearance. But some plants are better off without. Is echinacea one of them?

"There are benefits to deadheading echinacea, but there are also many reasons for leaving the flowers to die back naturally," starts Lucie Bradley, gardening expert at Easy Garden Irrigation.

"To make the most of echinacea, I recommend deadheading early in the season to encourage reblooming so you can enjoy their colourful blooms from June through to October and so they can attract beneficial pollinators, including bees and butterflies, into the garden, happy to feast on their abundance of pollen," she adds.

As previously mentioned, deadheading will help transform the look of your garden without spending a penny, as well as help to keep the spread of flower seeds under control.

Lucie Bradley

With over 28 years working in the garden industry, Lucie has been fortunate enough to spend every day speaking to both amateur and professional gardeners. Encouraged to garden since she was old enough to walk, she believes that you can never know everything about gardening, as it is constantly evolving.

"Later in the flowering period, I then stop deadheading and leave the flowers to fade and dry into the autumn. At which point they will form a vital food source for birds, such as goldfinches, which feed on the large cone-shaped seed heads. In late summer and autumn. Leaving the spent flowers can help to support local wildlife," continues Lucie.

If you want your echinacea to spread and create a larger patch in your garden, then leaving the flower heads on is the best way to achieve this. It ultimately comes down to personal preference.

Shop deadheading essentials

 Do you cut the dead flowers off Echinacea?

Learning how to deadhead your plants properly will streamline the entire process and ensure you're only chopping off the right parts of the plant. For echinaceas, this includes the dead flower.

"Once I’ve enjoyed the colourful first blooms of echinacea, I watch for them starting to fade and then prepare to deadhead," says Lucie.

"I always use a sharp, clean pair of secateurs to cut through the stems as their sturdy, thick stems are too stout to snap with my hands. After locating the faded bloom, I simply follow the stem down until I find the next set of leaves or a new bud and cut through the stem just above this point," she explains.

Lucie points out that by cutting the stem back to this point, you are directing the plant's energy to develop new blooms rather than producing seeds from he faded flower head.

Does Echinacea benefit from deadheading?

Whether you're deadheading verbena or daffodils, various benefits will help your plants in both the short and long term.

"Deadheading echinacea early in the season benefits us as it keeps our garden looking tidy by removing the faded, decaying flowers," says Lucie.

"However, it also benefits the plant as by removing the decaying heads, which would attract pests, you are also reducing the plant's susceptibility to fungal diseases by increasing air flow around the plant," she adds.

FAQs

How to keep Echinacea blooming?

In the same way you'd prune roses to maximise their blooming period, there are ways you can help keep your echinacea looking its best for longer.

"As well as deadheading, which will certainly encourage the plant to produce more blooms, there are a number of other things you can do to keep your echinacea healthy and able to bloom continuously," recommends Lucie.

She does say that while they are good drought-tolerant plants once established, they will benefit from regular watering, especially during dry spells.

"The first thing to consider right at the start is choosing the right variety if you want long-lasting blooms. Some varieties of echinacea have been specially bred to have longer blooming times, such as ‘Southern Belle’, one of the longest blooming echinaceas, which can flower from early summer until frost, or ‘Tomato Soup,’ which blooms from midsummer until frost. Although even these varieties need to be deadheaded and the stems cut back to encourage re-blooming," she finishes.

Will Echinacea bloom twice?

Although echinaceas aren't late summer flowers, meaning they won't be around later in the year, they can sometimes provide a second round of flowering.

"Once you have the correct plant in the correct location and in the correct soil, then you just need to ensure they receive the best care. Echinacea are actually fairly low maintenance, and apart from dividing the plants every four years to prevent overcrowding and rejuvenate them, you just need to keep new plants well watered until they become established and apply fresh compost around the base of the plants each spring to give the soil a boost in nutrients," explains Lucie.

If you really want long-lasting blooms from your echinacea, Lucie recommends finding the best spot in your garden for them.

"After selecting the correct variety, you also need to make sure it’s planted in a location in your garden where it will thrive, which generally means a spot where it can benefit from six to eight hours of full sun a day. You also want to ensure that the soil it’s planted in is well-drained, so preparing the ground by digging in organic matter before planting will help to create this type of environment," she explains.