Snapdragons are among the most popular flowering plants because they are extremely robust and easy to care for. They bloom from June until well into fall, provided they are given a little care and pruned properly. We have summarized for you in this article how you have to cut the snapdragon so that it keeps producing new flowers and blooms permanently.
How should you prune snapdragons to promote continuous flowering?
To ensure that snapdragons bloom continuously, you should regularly remove spent inflorescences, shorten the main shoots at the same time and only cut the plant back to 1-2 hand's width in spring. No pruning is necessary in autumn.
Cut off the faded flowers
So that the snapdragon does not put an unnecessary amount of energy into seed formation and keeps sprouting fresh buds, everything that has bloomed must be cleaned out regularly. Cut out the spent inflorescences and at the same time shorten the main shoots by a few centimeters for bushy growth.
Pruning before winter
Since the naturally grown greenery is an excellent protection, you should not cut back the hardy snapdragon in autumn. You can often enjoy the flowers well into December.
As soon as the first night frosts threaten, the plant is only protected from frost with a mulch layer of leaves and spruce branches loosely layered on top.
Pruning in spring
Only cut the snapdragon back to a height of one to two hand widths above the ground in spring.
The cutting rules in brief:
- Clean out faded flowers regularly, this promotes the formation of new flowers
- Cut out the stems completely
- Cut the flowers for the vase in the morning so they last longer.
- Remove the top centimeters of the shoots to promote bushy growth.
- Do not cut back in autumn.
- Only in spring is it shortened to a height of one to two hand widths.
Tip
Snapdragons are long-lasting vase flowers. To do this, cut the flower stems in the early hours of the morning as they will last longer. Choose shoots whose bottom three to four flowers have already bloomed so that the top buds open reliably in the vase.
