Reading Ali’s recent post at The Mindful Gardener reminded me that I meant to write about the Chelsea Chop. As Ali says, this somewhat alarming sounding garden procedure is more than dead-heading spent flowers to encourage further blooming, or cutting to the roots plants that will have a second flush in late summer (e.g. oriental poppies).
The Chelsea Chop is scheduled for late May – early June around the time of the annual Royal Horticultural Society’s Chelsea Flower Show. It involves using sharp shears to cut back later flowering herbaceous perennials by one third to a half. The plant will then grow vigorously, but flower later, so extending the flowering season.
This of course can work very well in large borders as part of a complex growing scheme – and especially in public gardens where the floral show must go on through the summer-into-autumn season. But in my small garden I would end up with gaps. I was therefore very pleased to hear TV gardener, Monty Don, say you can have the best of both worlds by some judicious cutting into a potential flower clump.
This means reducing only some of the growing stems. Phlox, Helenium, Golden Rod, Echinacea, Rudbeckia, Sedums and Anthemis all respond well to this treatment. You can also do the same with mint and other herbs, so keeping some stems for cooking, while letting others flower. The bees will definitely be happy with this arrangement.
Meanwhile in this morning’s garden, the oriental poppies are on the wane, the foxgloves are still flowering, and rose Teasing Georgia is bursting out all over and giving us a lovely bowery vista from the kitchen door. Oh yes, and the pink-mauve shaded aquilegias have given way to yellow ones that look like garden sprites with their little wings:
Tish Farrell 
Your garden must look so beautiful…I love those oriental poppies. Another good day – enjoy 🙂
And more good days to come by the look of it. Have a good week, Janet. Spect you’re still catching up.
Yes still catching up….but enjoying the mild temps. Happy gardening 🙂
oh, how lovely. i love the poppies –
Oh, beautiful, Tish! Keep chopping !
I have ulterior motives too – the choppings are off to the allotment compost heaps 🙂
Sounds like a plan!
Obsessive compulsive composting rising to the fore at the moment 🙂
😀😀
Last year was the first year I started chopping perennials mid-season, with wonderful results. I wish I’d known sooner!
It’s definitely one of those things one wishes one had known sooner 🙂
Beautiful ….and glad you explained the chop.
Ahh the poppies, so ruffly snd pink. Happy bees are a very good thing!
What a lovely cottage garden you have created Tish. I gave my pulmonaria the ‘Chatsworth Chop’* this week, to try and avoid the mildew they seem to get after flowering.
*cutting the spring flowering plants down to the ground. Might have got that from Ali too!!
My pulmonaria has started growing leaves like crazy. I keep giving it a look in hopes it will stop spreading. Seems cruel to chop it just now. Hm.
Yours obviously doesn’t suffer from mildew!
I like these photos very much. You have a very good eye to capture the beauty of the flowers in the cottage garden, Tish!
Thank you, Peter.
That last one is spectacular, Tish.
Oh! Those poppies! Just lovely!
I’ve been loving them, but these pale ones are nearly done.
the flowers are beautiful, Tish. Not sure I understood what you were saying about privies…
Related to an earlier post where they featured – but only in a truncated side view 🙂
Brilliant title! Great roof, and very envious of your foxgloves. Mine are pathetic this yea. Fortunately already very evident that next year’s are going to be much better.
That’s a wise gardening eye you have. Gardeners are optimists by nature 🙂
I just spotted my FIRST rose bud yesterday and any day now, lilies. But after that, my garden is just a big patch of weeds. All my fall flowers are gone.
That’s sad about the fall flowers. I know you’re not up to much gardening. Is there maybe one single shrub/small tree you could put in that would give end of season of colour? This is probably a tall order, but worth a thought.
When my shrubs are due for a hard prune I often do them half at a time, then, of course all goes to the compost. Lovely cottagey garden look at your place
Thanks, Pauline.
🤗
Oh , those pink poppies…..
Your garden is a treat!
Thank you, Anna 🙂
That looks like a lovely David Austen rose?
Well spotted. That’s precisely where I bought it. His nursery isn’t too far from us. Aren’t we lucky. His gardens are wonderful.
So soft and lovely, Tish. And useful knowledge, too. We walked through a courtyard with a great waft of rose scented fragrance this afternoon. 🙂 🙂
Oh that sounds so blissful. Mmmmm.