Monty Don explains why you need to deadhead your agapanthus now to ensure it blooms again next year
With summer coming to an end, now is the time to give your agapanthus a good chop
When the seasons change, there's always lots to be done in the garden, and as summer begins to fade away, deadheading and pruning are among the most important tasks.
If you've been catching up on your September gardening jobs this month, you may have been wondering if your agapanthus needs deadheading. The answer is yes. Like many other late summer flowers, once agapanthus have stopped blooming, they need deadheading to ensure their energy is stored for next year.
And who better to walk us through the process than gardening icon Monty Don? Presenting on BBC Gardeners' World, Monty explains that now is the best time to deadhead your agapanthus – showing us how you can still enjoy the plant after cutting.
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As one of the best drought-tolerant plants, your agapanthus won't have been negatively affected by this year's heatwave. But that doesn't mean they won't need deadheading to ensure they thrive again next year.
"Agapanthus have had a good summer, relishing the heat and sunshine. But as soon as they finish flowering, they will develop seedheads, which will take energy away from next year's flowering," starts Monty.
"Cut them back right at the base of the flowering stem, and that will leave you with a collection of dramatically beautiful seedheads that you can put in a vase for indoors," he adds.
You'll also want to make sure your essential gardening tools, whether that's secateurs, scissors or loppers, are sharpened and cleaned before you start deadheading. The last thing you want is to stress or damage the plant, or worse, pass on a disease from another plant you've pruned or deadheaded previously.
After deadheading your agapanthus, all that's left is to protect it from nasty frosts during the winter. And with it being so drought-tolerant, it's also important that it's protected from heavy rain.
Then, next summer, you'll be able to enjoy the blooms once again.
If you want to add agapanthus to your garden, choosing drought-tolerant plants for our plots is only going to get more important, and they need to be planted in February for impressive summer growth.
