Gazania Pruning Tips

Gazania flowers are part of a family of daises known as the Asteraceae family. These plants originally came from south Africa and are perennial plants in their native country. In cold countries they are often only considered as an annual plant. Gazanias are very easy to grow and care for because they require little sunlight and quickly spread out.

Gazanias can either be grown from seed or bought in pots and transplanted into your garden. These flowers resemble huge daises and are either something that you love or hate.

Growing Gazania Flowers

When it comes to growing gazania flowers you need to choose an area which is in full sunlight, or alternatively in partial shade. In its native country of South Africa the Gazania flowers will grow in full sunlight positions.

Caring for Gazania Plants

One of the biggest reasons why gazania plants are so popular is because they don't require much attention. Caring for gazania plants is actually very easy. You just need to water them occasionally until they are well established. They flower very easily and also don't suffer from many problems with pests.

To keep your gazania healthy you should feed the plants once or twice a year, starting at the beginning right at the start of spring. The fertiliser required should be slow release and make sure you don't put too much of it around the plants.

Gazanias should be watered just once a week and they will also do much better if you can plant them in sandy soil which is well draining.

Pruning Gazania Plants

When it comes to pruning gazania plants you won't find this very difficult. They don't require much attention and this makes caring for them very simple. Perhaps the most important thing that you need to do is deadhead the plants on a regular basis. The plants will benefit from being deadheaded because less of the energy is put into making seeds.

The plant should be pruned during the spring, this should only remove old growth as this will encourage the plant to generate new growth. Any dead wood on the plant can be removed using garden scissors and it's important to do this carefully. Be careful not to cut out any new growth of the plant. This is a ground covering shrub anyway and so does not need pruning in that way.

Simply removing the dead wood can improve the health of your plant. It will also keep the branches much more supple and prevent it becoming a very woody plant. If you prune the plant properly, the plants should bloom during the middle of spring.

You don't need to do anything else until the plants have finished flowering, in which case you simply need to remove the dead flowers from the Gazania plants. Any dead flowers can be composted as normal and used to improve the condition of the soil in your garden. As soon as the plant has finished flowering the dead heads can be removed by either cutting or pulling them off.