Garden lilies are becoming more and more popular every season; they can already be seen in almost all gardens. Most plants are unpretentious and get along well in our latitudes. Each amateur gardener will find a suitable flower for himself in a wide variety of varieties and hybrids. But not everyone knows how to care for lilies after flowering. We will talk about this in this article.
Many beginner gardeners are interested in the question: "When to cut lilies after flowering?" Naturally, the plant already does not look decorative, and the normal reaction of the gardener is to cut the stems. This is best not to do! The main condition for the proper cultivation of lilies is to leave them alone. The only thing you can do is remove the seed ovary.
If you cut the stems, the lily bulb will stop in development and growth, and will not be able to fully ripen. Even the fading leaves do not cease to give the necessary nutrients to the bulb. The plant receives an additional portion of food from annual roots, which you can observe at a lily near the ground level.
How to care for lilies after flowering, if you need a transplant?
Even if you plan to transplant plants or dig bulbs for the winter, this should be done no earlier than 3 weeks after they bloom. And in this case, do not cut the stems and leaves! And if you have the opportunity to wait longer until late autumn, then your bulbs will grow well and you will get good planting material. Such bulbs during transplant tolerate winter well and are better preserved if they winter in the cellar.
Experienced flower growers recommend unpretentious varieties of lilies to transplant in the fall 1 time in several years. And rare hybrid varieties, if possible, transplanted once a year and also in autumn.
If pruning stems is not required, what to do after flowering lilies? The fact that these plants require minimal maintenance, and makes them very popular. But this does not mean that they do not require attention at all. After the plants have bloomed, you must loosen the soil and remove the weeds. This should be done carefully enough so as not to damage the bulbs. The better you clear the land of unnecessary plants around lilies, the less spring you will work with germinating weeds.
If harsh winters are in your latitudes, it will not be superfluous to swell, which will need to be done in late autumn. It can be replaced by mulching with fallen leaves, sawdust or straw.
There is one more nuance in how to care for lilies after flowering. In order for the buds to be large and bright in the spring, plants need fertilizing with fertilizers.
Organic fertilizers are best suited for these purposes. Do not use manure and fresh compost. This can lead to burns, to the development of various fungal diseases of the bulbs. And, as a rule, to the death of the plant. Mineral fertilizers are also not recommended.
In specialized stores, you can purchase solutions with microorganisms that need to be applied along with watering. These fertilizers best help in the ripening of bulbs and the laying of flower buds.
Now you know how to care for lilies after flowering. This is simple and does not require much effort and expense, which will pay off the pleasure of admiring flowering plants.