Attack of the monstrous dahlias! Here’s a suggestion for keeping dahlia height and habit under control.
Q. I am quite new to gardening, but learning as I go along. I planted Dahlias last year. They were beautiful. I dug them up in the fall and replanted last weekend. Although they were beautiful, I was hesitant to replant as I had such a hard time keeping them from falling over last year. I staked them with bamboo rods, but the rods weren’t strong enough (or I couldn’t get them in the ground deep enough). A gardener friend recommended that I really concentrate on pruning them back as they grow this year. That way they will grow out more than up (last year they had to be 4-5 feet tall). Do you recommend this as well?
-Hampton, New Jersey
A. We used to grow mid-size dahlias (2 to 3 ft tall) in 2-gallon containers at our nursery, and your gardener friend is giving you some good advice. In order to keep our dahlias manageable, after the new growth emerged from the soil and had 4 to 5 leaves on its main stem, we would pinch off the very tip of that stem with at least 1 to 2 leaves on the piece that we pinched off. That would leave a stem in the container with 2 to 3 large leaves below where we pinched off the tip. This would result in new shoots sprouting from the remaining leaves and a shorter, denser plant. You’ll still have to use stakes, but your plants should be shorter with more stems and more flowers. Put your stakes in at the same time as planting, putting them in as deep as you can but making sure that you don’t pierce the dahlia tuber.
If you are really interested in growing dahlias, I’ve included a link to the American Dahlia Society on which you’ll find everything you could ever want to know about dahlias. http://www.dahlia.org/index.php?page=growing-dahlias
Good luck and happy gardening,
Mike Rutkowski, Ferris Farms Garden Center and Greenhouses, East Brunswick, New Jersey
www.FerrisFarms.org
