This question came to us from Nature Neighbor Giana:
“I’ve been watering and deadheading a lot this summer and have been pleasantly surprised by how long you can extend the blooming season that way. Who knew? It looks great, and it is also a lot of work. My partner was saying that he doesn’t want this to be a formal garden, it is supposed to be a native habitat, which means letting natural processes take place. This makes sense to me, and his point is that now at the end of summer, things are supposed to look like crap and be dying back.
I am having a hard time because I feel like everything wants water and I feel negligent if I let them wither already. I also like the idea of extending the time we are feeding pollinators by deadheading and watering. But he points out that in nature, things only bloom for a short time and that’s why we have a lot of different species, so there is always something.
What do you say?”
I don’t think either person is “wrong” or “right” here! Watering is important for newer plantings their first couple of summers, but if they’re native, usually you don’t need to water much after that. Mike is right, our plants do go through a natural dying-off process at the end of the summer (except evergreen ones). But you’re also right – watering and deadheading are great ways to extend the bloom time and keep your garden looking nicer for longer. I’ve actually seen OSU Extension recommending extending bloom into late summer/early fall because this is a period when relatively few plants are flowering, and late-season flowers are especially valuable to pollinators preparing for winter.
My thoughts: a little supplemental water to extend bloom can be helpful without making the garden “unnatural.” I think there’s a difference between deeply watering a drought-tolerant native occasionally to keep it flowering, and keeping a summer-dry ecosystem artificially lush and wet all summer. The key here is OCCASIONAL DEEP watering rather than constant short watering – otherwise the roots won’t grow deeply as they’re designed to do and it can weaken the plant over time. Think of it like the occasional summer rain storm.
As for deadheading, I would only do that maybe once over the summer, and maybe only deadhead about 50% of the blooms. Only deadhead late-summer bloomers rather than trying to force spring plants to keep flowering. Then leave the remaining flowers standing over the winter to provide bird seed and insect overwintering habitat.
My one caveat: just be aware that some natives NEED to dry out and go dormant over the summer. Camas, bleeding heart, fringecup, trillium, and shooting stars are some species that come to mind (Spring ephemerals). On the other hand yarrow, asters, goldenrods, and pearly everlasting are some species that would probably be the best candidates for late summer deadheading/watering. I’ve also had success extending bloom with checkermallows, penstemons, and columbines with a little extra water. -Sara Roberts, Nature Neighbors Coordinator
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