Tulips symbolise the arrival of spring in gardens and are one of the first flowers to bloom during this season. This makes tulips a popular choice for gardeners of all levels.
However, if you’re about to start your own tulip delight in your garden, BBC presenter and gardening expert Monty Don advises doing one essential thing to allow them to blossom in time for summer. Tulips are said to grow well in moist, well-drained soil with experts advising for them to be planted in October or November. They typically bloom between March and May, in time for summer – as long as you follow this essential tip for them.
According to Monty, tulip-owners must ensure they deadhead their tulips within the next month to allow for a perfect bloom for summertime.
This means removing fading flowers, which will help encourage more blooms.
Deadheading also allows the flower to retain its neat appearance alongside preventing unwanted seed production.
By removing the dead flower heads from tulips, it allows for no food or water to be diverted from your bulb and allows the tulip to soak up the adequate nutrients it needs to flourish.
When tulips become nutrient-deficient, their budding tulips could become stunted and in extreme cases, it could lead to the plant dying altogether.
Monty advises: “If you have tulips growing in borders, deadhead them once they are past their best.”
He added: “This will stop the development of seed so that all the energy goes into forming new bulbs for next year’s flowers.”
For those unsure how best to deadhead tulips, Monty adds that gardeners should snap off the wilted flower with its growing seed pod with the best method being the use of your fingers to do so.
Before tucking into your tulips by deadheading them, Monty advises not to become overzealous with this pruning.
He explains: “Do not cut back the stem or any of the foliage as this will all contribute to the growing bulbs as they slowly die back.”
