Download ArticleDownload ArticleThis article was co-authored by Lauren Kurtz. Lauren Kurtz is a Naturalist and Horticultural Specialist. Lauren has worked for Aurora, Colorado managing the Water-Wise Garden at Aurora Municipal Center for the Water Conservation Department. She earned a BA in Environmental and Sustainability Studies from Western Michigan University in 2014.
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Daisies are a popular perennial flower that can be grown in gardens and planters around the world. Gardeners commonly prune their daisies during the summer in order to increase the number of blooms that the flowers produce and to keep the plant producing flowers past the point when it would have normally stopped. Gardeners also prune their daisies before winter begins, to remove unsightly dead plants from the garden.
Steps
Pinch off individual dead flowers with your fingers or hand pruners. Remove the dead flowers before they begin producing seeds. This will make the daisy plant invest energy in creating new flowers, rather than producing seeds in the spent flowers. You can easily tear off the stem which connects the dead flower to the soil.[1]- Wear gardening gloves since some tougher stems could irritate your skin.
- Use hand pruners to snip off spent blooms.
- On average, perennial flower blooms last for 3–4 weeks.[2]
Remove dead and yellowed foliage. Leaves and stems can die at any point during the year, so you should remove the dead materials as soon as you notice them. Dead stems and leaves will be dark brown or black and brittle. You can snip these off in sections with pruning shears, or pull off individual dead leaves and stems with your fingers.- Also remove yellow and wilting stems and leaves. Yellowing foliage will probably not recover, and is just as unsightly as dead foliage.
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Prune all of the daisy stems back by roughly 4 inches (10 cm). Using a sharp pair of pruning shears, cut the tops off of your entire bed of daisies.[3] This will ensure that, as the stems continue to grow and when the flowers re-emerge, they’ll all grow at the same height.- This process is often called “deadheading,” since you’re removing the dead heads of flowers.
- If you don’t have a pair of pruning shears, purchase one at your local hardware store or home and garden supply store.
- Cut the spent flower stems below the foliage to prevent unsightly stems from sticking out of your plant.
Leave the tiny flower buds on the plant. If you look closely at your bed of daisies, you’ll be able to see many small flower buds—each only about 1⁄4 inch (0.64 cm) in size—growing about 5 inches (13 cm) beneath the large flowers. When you prune the daisies, do not cut off these buds.- If you do, you’ll wind up waiting over a month for new flowers to emerge after you’ve pruned the daisy bed.[4]
Wait 2–3 weeks for the next round of flowers to emerge. Daisies are fast-growing flowers. Once pruned they will grow back within 14–20 days.[5] If you don’t prune off your daisies, you’ll find that you have a flower bed full of unsightly seed pods instead of attractive flowers.
Repeat the pruning cycle for the full growing season. You can maintain the pruning cycle during the daisies’ spring and summer growing seasons. As soon as you notice that a majority of the daisies have died and are beginning to produce seeds, prune the daisy plant.- By pruning, you’re essentially forcing the daisy plant to repeat a specific part of its reproductive cycle, rather than allowing it to finish the cycle as it would in nature.[6]
Prune green daisy plants in fall by cutting half the stem off. Daisy plants can grow 3–4 feet (0.91–1.22 m) tall during the peak of summer. Once they’ve had their last bloom in early fall, cut off the top half of the plants so that only 1.5–2 feet (0.46–0.61 m) remain. The green, leafy daisy stalks will still look nice in a fall garden.[7]- At this point, the daisy plants will put their energy into maintaining the leaves rather than producing seeds.
Remove any blackened, dead daisies. If your garden has daisies that are completely dead, it’s best to prune them out entirely. The stems of dead daisies are often brittle, so you can bend and snap the stems near the ground. Then take a pair of pruning shears and cut the daisy stems off about 3–4 inches (7.6–10.2 cm) from the ground.[8]- Dead daisies in winter will have no greenery on the stems or stalk, and they can start to look slimy and unsightly.
Cut daisy stems to 1–2 in (2.5–5.1 cm) above the soil line in winter. Give your daisies a drastic pruning every year after the first frost. Use a sharp pair of gardening shears to trim each daisy stem so that no more than 1–2 inches (2.5–5.1 cm) protrudes up above the soil.[9]- If you’re not sure when the first killing frost occurs in your region, you can look it up online here: https://www.almanac.com/gardening/frostdates.
Community Q&A
- QuestionI have mine in a flowerpot due to living in a condo. Do I treat it the same as if in the ground?
NinoxTop AnswererYes, except that you have to keep it watered more thoroughly and to replant it in another pot every 4 to 5 years. - QuestionI did not cut back my daisies in the fall. What should I do?NinoxTop AnswererDon't worry about this; daisies can be left uncut for one year. But do not forget to do it next year.
- QuestionIn what months should I prune yellow daisy bushes?NinoxTop AnswererCut the flowers when they wither, and cut the leaves at the end of November or at the beginning of December.
Tips
- The Shasta daisy is the most common type of daisy grown in gardens. There are many other varieties of daisy, including the Everlasting daisy, the Federation daisy, the Seaside daisy, and the Australian daisy.[10]Thanks
Things You’ll Need
- Pruning shears
- Canvas work gloves
References
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30hxHr82wGU&feature=youtu.be&t=39s
- ↑ https://savvygardening.com/longest-flowering-perennials/
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30hxHr82wGU&feature=youtu.be&t=1m10s
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30hxHr82wGU&feature=youtu.be&t=1m37s
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30hxHr82wGU&feature=youtu.be&t=1m25s
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30hxHr82wGU&feature=youtu.be&t=2m3s
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UmFx6POZDYg&feature=youtu.be&t=49s
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UmFx6POZDYg&feature=youtu.be&t=1m13s
- ↑ https://www.almanac.com/plant/shasta-daisies
About This Article
Pruning your daisies will keep them looking nice and increase their number of blooms. Daisies are fast-growing flowers that only survive for 3 to 4 weeks. During the spring and summer growing season, you’ll want to pinch off any dead flowers with your fingers or garden shears so new flowers can grow back. You should also remove any dead or yellowing leaves from otherwise healthy flowers. Then, cut all of the stems back 4 inches to help them grow back quicker. For the maximum number of blooms, repeat the process whenever you notice the majority of your daisies have died. To prepare them for winter, all you need to do is cut all of your daisy stems in half and get rid of any dying leaves. For more tips from our Gardening co-author, including how long daisies take to grow back, read on!
Reader Success Stories
"I have a beautiful bush of Shasta daisies. The dead heading information was very helpful. After reading the information I deadheaded my plant and now I can see the new buds, which I never paid any attention to. Thanks for sharing."..." more
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