Note's from the Nursery gardens - June 2026
In this article, Head Gardener Darren reflects on the floral abundance of these early summer months and the help of the 'Chelsea Chop'.
As the growing season gets into full swing, our gardens and especially the flower beds and borders throughout May and June look vibrant and energised. Filling out daily with fresh green foliage and towering flower spikes of Iris, Lupins, Foxgloves and the like, complimented by mounds of green, full of promise and filling the gaps. This gardening lark seems easy at this time of year. A bit of weeding and ‘editing’ the self sowers and then we can sit back and enjoy the show. As we all know, this is not the case, there is more to be done. If we are to enjoy the flowering abundance in our gardens throughout the season till the first frosts, we are reliant on later flowering perennials and half-hardy plants to keep the show going.
It is at this stage that we can regret not staking those taller later flowering plants that can collapse and flop about, smothering their neighbours. But there is something that we can do now that will help remedy that and increase the flowering through the season, the ‘Chelsea chop’. Now originally, I thought that this referred to the notorious Chelsea defender Ron ‘Chopper’ Harris and his no-nonsense approach to eliminating any threat to his goal line. But no, it is apparently to do with the practise coinciding with the Chelsea flower show, a horticultural event up the line.
There is a whole host of perennials that this practise can be applied to. By cutting the growth back by about a half at this time of year will create a sturdier bushier plant that will flower later in the year, albeit sometimes with smaller flowers, but more of them. Ideal candidates for the chop Helenium, Rudbeckia, taller Campanulas like Campanula ‘Prichard’s Variety’, Solidago, Echinacea, Eupatorium, Asters, Achillea and Phlox paniculata. At the nursery in the Bee garden, we have three large clumps of Helianthus ‘Lemon Queen’. Two of the clumps we ‘chop’ and the one at the back we leave go. This means we get earlier flowering from the one at the back followed later by the bushier chopped two in front. This means a longer flowering display for us and the bees to enjoy.
