Floral gardens: a quick guide to cutting geranium

If cut back correctly your geraniums will re-bloom profusely. Protect them during the winter for more flowers next spring.

Geraniums are very popular indoor and outdoor plants. There are two groups of geranium. There is perlargonium which is very showy with large flowers and there is the hardier geranium or cranebill that is good for perennial landscape borders. There are common garden geraniums or zonal geraniums, regal or Martha Washington geraniums, trailing geraniums, ivy leafed geraniums and scented leaf geraniums. There is also the mosquito geranium. The mosquito geranium is actually derived from mixing a gene from Citronella grass with a scented Pelargonium species of geranium.

Geraniums get as tall as a few inches to several feet. All geraniums originate in South Africa. To grow these special plants you can start them from seed of any variety that you prefer. Each variety of plant varies in size, shape and color. Try to choose plants that will give you flowers for all seasons and you will have year round beauty in your garden or home. Geraniums must have a good location with good soil and a minimum of six hours of sunlight. Growing geraniums in your own backyard will give you fresh flowers and significant cost savings.

You must cut geraniums when the flowers reach their peak quality. Most varieties will re-bloom if cut during the growing season. Mid summer is the time to cut them back hard. This will promote new bushy growth and a second crop of flowers, which is what you want. This is why most people grow geraniums. Certain types of geranium such as the clarkei, himalayense and the pretense types do very well when cut back hard. Some of the taller varieties of geranium can be cut after the first flush of bloom, but only cut the stems to three inches when cutting back. When dead heading flowers you should take off three inches of top growth only.

If you want to cut geranium for propagation you will need to cut them in late summer or early fall. This is after the peak flowering time. To protect your plants during frost you can dig up the plants from the garden. Before digging them up you need to cut them back by half and then pot them as a houseplant for the winter.

Anytime you are cutting flowers you need to be sure and use very sharp scissors or hand pruners. For over wintering geraniums you should cut them back four to six inches. Be sure and remove any old leaves. Cut back any weak stems or stems which are no longer green. These old stems should be cut back to soil level. The roots will need to be teased any time the top growth is pruned. Remove any hard soil that may be on the roots. Remove any weak looking roots also. After preparing the plant well, then you can pot it up and water well. Place the pot in a sunny window.

Always water when the plant is dry and keep it in a sunny window. Turn the pot weekly to promote equal growth on all sides of the plant. Do not put your plant in a draft or where it is too hot and dry. Next spring you can put them outside or keep them potted.

Written by Yvonne Quarles - Â© 2002 Pagewise