Your tulips have done their “work” and delighted you with bright colors and lush blossoms for weeks, but unfortunately this time has also come to an end. The flowers are no longer particularly pretty to look at and you may be wondering if you can remove them or if it makes sense to leave them there and rot completely. We will tell you whether or not you should cut off faded tulips in the garden and what further care for the flowers should look like.
How do you deal with tulips after flowering?
Especially in a lush tulip bed, where the tulips were the highlight and no other flowers took the place, the faded tulip bulbs do not look particularly attractive. One is tempted to remove these – better an empty space than one that looks unkempt, right? But is that really optimal?
Yes, you can prune wilted tulips, but only if you do it properly. What does that mean? Spring flowering bulbs are pruned in two steps:
- The flower heads that have died are removed, not but the leaves are still green.
- Once the leaves have withered and turned yellow, you can cut them off as well. They continue to serve as green ornaments in the garden.
Pruning faded tulips in the garden: why the flowers are removed
It is not primarily for aesthetic reasons that you should cut off faded tulips in the garden. Rather, the step serves to redirect the power of the plant and focus it on more important processes. The flowers are pollinated by insects. The flower’s natural next step is to develop seeds from the pollinated flower. But since you don’t need them, it’s an unnecessary effort that you can easily prevent by removing the flowers. This allows the plant to concentrate on preserving the bulb and developing daughter bulbs from it. This way you can propagate your tulip much more easily than with seeds.
Why should one leave the leaves still standing?
When cutting faded tulips, leave the leaves alone for the time being. This is necessary to help the flower bulbs get and store enough energy for the new season. They get it from the leaves and the stem. For this reason, first remove only the flower head. In this way, the nutrients are not wasted on seed formation, but all get into the bulb. The flower bulb can then use this collected energy in the coming year to form strong, lush flowers and healthy greenery.
You can read here how to cut and care for potted tulips.
Cut off faded tulips in the garden and continue caring for them
Now that you know how to prune tulips after flowering, the question of further care remains. Of course, the flowering phase is the culmination of the entire growth phase and now the plant is getting closer and closer to the end of the season. But of course that doesn’t mean she’s dying. It just goes into hibernation, for which you have to prepare the onion in order to be able to start well through the winter and again in spring with full force. Last but not least, the mother bulb can only produce daughter bulbs if you take good care of the tulips after flowering.
If you want to leave the onions in the ground
So once the tulips in the garden have faded, you should continue to care for them with everything the plant needs. If the flower bulbs are to overwinter in the garden soil, this means:
- Fertilize them regularly. It is best to use organic fertilizer such as compost for this. Horn fertilizer is also well suited, whereby horn meal gives you a wonderful instant fertilizer, while shavings decompose more slowly. The nutrients that faded tulips receive in the garden in this way end up in the bulb.
- Water regularly. As soon as the soil becomes dry, you should arrange for irrigation so that the tulip bulbs do not dry out but survive until the next season.
Dig up tulip bulbs after flowering and store indoors
With proper care in the soil, the bulbs will get through the summer and winter very well. However, you still have the option of digging them out of the bed and then storing them in a warehouse. Tulips are one of those plants that need new locations every three to four years because over time the soil can no longer provide them with what they need and needs to recover. A change of location is therefore necessary so that the flowers do not lack vigor.
But for this purpose you also need to store them properly, otherwise they will dry out or, conversely, they will rot. You not only need an optimal storage space, but also some materials for the right storage:
- A place that is dark and cool. Cellars, for example, are very suitable.
- Prepare a box in which to store the onions. Line them with sand. Alternatively, shavings or peat dust are also suitable.
- Wrap each onion individually in newspaper.
In autumn the tulip bulbs are returned to the garden. Here’s how to do it.