You’ve enjoyed the spectacular Tulip flowers in your garden. What should you do after your Tulips finished flowering? Do you need to keep watering your Tulips after flowering? Here is a beginner’s guide on what to do with your Tulips after flowering.
Tulips are beautiful flowering bulbs. They are easy-to-grow perennial flowering bulbs. They will come back year after year without much effort from the gardener.
What to do with your Tulips after flowering?
You need to deadhead your Tulips after it has finished flowering. If you want healthy tulips to come back next year, you can’t skip this step. Your Tulips will go into a period of dormancy and during this time they will feed their bulbs in preparation for next year. You want your Tulips to focus their energy feeding the bulb that’s why you need to deadhead the Tulips flowers.
How to Deadhead Your Tulips
Here is a step-by-step process of how to deadhead your Tulips.
1. Cut off the Dead Tulips Flower
Deadheading is basically just cutting off the dead Tulips flowers. The best way to do this is to use sharp gardening scissors and snip off the dead flowers. Make sure you cut below the seed capsule. Don’t do anything with the leaves just yet.
2. Leave the Tulips’ Leaves Alone for a few more weeks
Leave the dead Tulips’ leaves alone for a few more weeks. Your Tulips will still need the leaves to help provide much-needed energy to the bulbs. Wait until the leaves have wilted and are easy to pull off without much resistance.
3. Remove the Tulips’ Leaves
Tug on your Tulips’ leaves, once it is easy to pull off without much resistance then you can safely remove all the dead leaves.
Do you need to water your Tulips once they die back to the ground in the Summer?
You don’t need to water your Tulips in the summer. Your tulips are dormant in the summer and do not need to be watered. Natural rainfall in the summer should be sufficient for your tulips. If you water your Tulips in the summer, there is a risk that the bulbs will rot.
Do you need to water your Tulips in the Fall?
You don’t need to keep watering your Tulips in the Fall. Natural rainfall and the cooler Fall temperature should be enough for your Tulips. Again, if you water your tulips in the Fall, the wet soil might cause the bulbs to rot.
Do you need to water your Tulips in the Winter?
You don’t need to water your Tulips in the winter when it is dormant. Just make sure it is in a location that is well drained. Wet soil will cause your tulip bulbs to rot over winter.
Do you need to water your Tulips in the Spring?
If your Tulips are established, you don’t need to water your Tulips in the Spring unless the soil is dry. The way to tell if the soil is dry is to use your finger to check if the soil is damp or not. If it’s dry, then water your Tulips. If it’s damp, you can just leave your Tulips alone.
Even when you start to see new growth tips, just use your finger to check the soil’s moisture to decide whether or not to water your Tulips. If the soil feels dry, then water your Tulips.
Tulips (Tulipa species)
| Name | Tulips |
| Botanical Name | Tulipa species |
| Flowers | Many colors- red, orange, pink, white, purple, etc. |
| Light | Full Sun |
| Bloom Time | Spring |
| Height | 14-30 inches |
You May Also Be Interested In Other Tulip Related Articles:
Beginner’s Guide to Tulips (Lots of Tulip Photos for Identification)