Caring for beard flowers: cutting, fertilizing & watering

The blue beard flower is not only a real eye-catcher, but also particularly easy to care for. It hardly needs more than pruning in spring.

Depending on the soil and the weather, you need it Beard flower (Caryopteris) also occasionally water and fertilizer, but it is very undemanding. Diseases and pests are also no problem with her. We show what is important when it comes to beard flower care.

Caring for the beard flower: cutting

In order to be able to enjoy the flowers every year, it is important to cut the beard flower. This is best done in spring, around the end of March. The beard flower only forms its flowers on the shoots that also grew in the same year. So it has annual shoots. By pruning, the beard flower sprouts again and thus forms many annual shoots on which flowers appear. Use sharp scissors to avoid crushing the branches. Also, avoid frosty and rainy days when pruning back the beard flower. All shoots are shortened to about 20 cm.

Tip: The later the cut, the later the beard flower will bloom. The flowering period shifts with the pruning. If the beard flower is cut too late, it may not bloom at all, because the formation of flower heads takes time.

During the flowering period, you can remove dead flowers. There is then the possibility of renewed flowering. When autumn approaches, you can snap off any withered flowers. This way, no fruit will form and the beard flower can save its energy for winter and spring. Such a late cut may even lead to re-flowering. However, this also prevents self-sowing and reproduction.

Fertilize beard flower

The bearded flower can manage with a very limited supply of nutrients, but you should still fertilize it after pruning and before new growth. This gives it enough energy to produce numerous flowers. At this time, potted plants in particular need a start-up fertilization. For the beard flower, it is best to use a rose fertilizer such as ours Plantura organic rose fertilizer. It is a slow release fertilizer in which the nutrients are gradually made available in the soil over a period of three months. It is simply sprinkled on the floor, easily incorporated and poured on. Beard flowers in the bed can alternatively receive a starter fertilizer from compost after pruning.

Pour properly

The water requirement of the bearded flower is also rather low. Above all, it does not tolerate waterlogging at all, so it is better to pour less than too much. When the substrate has dried a few centimeters on the surface, you can water the beard flower again. Potted plants usually need more water than bedding plants.

Beard flower does not bloom: causes and measures

The beard flower doesn't bloom and you don't know why? Often cutting measures are the cause:

• Later cutback: With the cut, the flower also shifts. If you did not use the scissors until late spring or early summer, the bearded flower must first sprout again and the flower appears late or not at all. The pruning should therefore never be done in summer but always in spring.
• No cut back: If you haven't cut back the beard flower in a number of years, it is mostly old wood. But no flowers are formed on it. If you cut the beard flower back to 20 cm in spring, flowers should appear again in summer.
• Bad growing conditions: If the beard flower is too wet or too shady, this can also be the reason for not blooming. Therefore, you should definitely look for a location for the beard flower that meets its requirements.

Common beard flower pests and diseases

Beard flowers are rarely attacked by diseases or pests. Excessive watering creates waterlogging, which can lead to root rot in the beard flower. Otherwise, like many other labiates, the bearded flower contains essential oils that can keep pests away.

The beard flower is often planted together with roses, as they complement each other perfectly in terms of color. We give an overview of the most beautiful types of roses.