What To Do with Flowers That You Deadhead

When you deadhead flowers in your garden, you will help to make sure that the plants continue to bloom for as long as possible. This is not only good for the appearance of your garden but can also be good news for pollinators and other beneficial wildlife. But in an organic garden, we are always looking for ways to get as much as possible from our gardens, and to return surplus to the system to keep the ecosystem's natural cycles functioning as they should. So what should you do with the flowers that you deadhead?


Add them to Your Compost Heap


The first and most obvious way to use the faded flowers that you remove from your flowering plants is simply to add them to your compost heap. Making your own compost in your garden is one of the very best things that you can do to make sure that your garden is sustainable, and functions well over time. As a source of biomass, the spent flowers are just one of many waste products that can be returned to the system through composting.


But composting faded flowers is not the only way that you can use the spent blooms that you cut from your flowering shrubs, bushes and herbaceous plants. You could also consider:


Turning Petals into Potpourri


The fading blooms of roses, and many other fragrant flowers can make an excellent potpourri to add a pleasant smell to your home. As you deadhead, you could consider removing petals, spreading them on a tray, and leaving them to dry. Once dry, these can be left in bowls for a mild fragrance, or placed in little bags and used in drawers, pillows or amongst your clothes.


Use Petals in DIY Cosmetics & Cleaning Products


Once you have dried some fragrant petals from your flowers that you deadhead,you could also consider using these in a range of DIY, home-made cosmetics and cleaning products. For example, you might be able to use them in home-made soaps or bath bombs.


Just because you want to remove fading flowers from a plant, that does not mean that they are no longer of any use. Rather than waiting until flowers have withered completely, consider deadheading while they are just beginning to fade. That way, you can use their petals in a range of different ways around your home. This is just one more way to make the most of your garden.