The Chelsea Chop: How and Why You Should Use this Technique
Easily maintain some of your flowering perennials with this simple and actionable plant maintenance tip.

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Certain species of taller perennial flowers can occasionally grow quite lanky due to various factors such as overly fertile soil, insufficient or sporadic sunlight, or lack of competition with other plants. These plants may begin to tilt or spill over on fragile stems as they grow upward, causing their flowers to easily topple from their own weight; in other causes like a strong windstorm, taller plants may even break. Fortunately, there is a simple solution: the Chelsea Chop. It’s called the Chelsea Chop because it traditionally takes place around the time of the Chelsea Flower Show, which is usually held in May, typically around the third week of the month in the UK. If applied correctly, this easy technique can help you manage your garden, keep your perennials tidy and healthy, and can even encourage more blooms.

Step-by-step Instructions:
Here’s a step-by-step guide to the Chelsea Chop method:
- Timeline: The Chelsea Chop is performed in mid-spring or early summer, typically at the end of May, and approximately 4-6 weeks before the target plant’s expected bloom. This technique is best done on well-established plants that have reached about ⅓ to ½ of their anticipated full height and have developed robust foliage. Keep in mind that the timing can vary depending on the species and growing region, but aiming for late May is a good standard.
- Tools: Grab a sterilized pair of pruning shears. You’ll want to be sure the shears are clean and sharp to prevent damaging the plants.
- Method: Using the pruning shears, cut across the center of the plant stems, about ½ or ⅓ of the way down from the very top. You can also selectively cut each plant stem by trimming right above the joint where the stem meets a group of leaves.

Benefits of the Chelsea Chop:
This maintenance tip has a wide range of benefits, and can be used on a number of different plants.
Improved Plant Health: By proactively caring for your plant and preventing stem overgrowth and subsequent breakage, you help maintain its overall health, ensuring stronger growth and more blooms.
Increased Blooms: Plants that are pruned back in mid spring will have shorter, stockier growth resulting in fuller blooms, and more flowers. By redirecting resources from growing overly long stems, the perennial plant will put energy towards producing more flowers, resulting in shower plants.
Bushier, Shorter Growth: The early trimming will result in stronger and shorter stalks, creating a neater and more manicured look in your overall garden design.
Plant List:
Here is list of common flowering native perennial plants that can benefit from the Chelsea Chop:
Lavender Hyssop (Agastache foeniculum)
Asters (Symphyotrichum spp.)
Black-eyed Susans (Rudbeckia hirta)
Brown-eyed Susans (Rudbeckia triloba)
Culver’s Root (Veronicastrum virginicum)
Echinacea (Echinacea spp.)
False Sunflower (Heliopsis helianthoides)
Penstemon (Penstemon spp.)
Garden Phlox (Phlox paniculata)
Tall Bellflower (Campanulastrum americanum)
Common Yarrow (Achillea millefolium)
Considerations:
The Chelsea Chop is not suitable for all plants, so it's important to verify if your perennial will benefit from this method before using it. Certain shrubs and woody-stemmed plants, like New Jersey Tea (Ceanothus americanus), as well as herbaceous perennials that flower only once per season, such as Columbine (Aquilegia canadensis), Foxglove (Digitalis), Irises (Iris), and Loosestrife (Lythrum alatum), should not be pruned using this technique.
Conclusion:
The Chelsea Chop is a highly effective and straightforward method of maintaining your plants to ensure their health, tidy appearance and encourage more blooms. Many of the My Home Park Garden collections feature plants such as Wild Bergamot, New England Aster and Common Yarrow which particularly benefit from the Chelsea Chop. Use this tip to keep your garden well-maintained and looking beautiful.
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