Bolting Plants: Should They Stay or Should They Go?
Sure bolted plants attract bees and butterflies, but that’s not always all they are attracting!
Here’s what you should ask yourself when deciding to leave or pull a bolted plant:
Do I have plenty of other healthy plants to attract bees, butterflies, and beneficial insects to the garden? If you’re low on flowering plants, leaving bolted plants might not only be a good idea - it might be vital to keeping your garden’s ecosystem in balance.
Is the bolted plant healthy? Guess what? Most plants that bolt are under stress (that’s why they bolt and flower). The last thing you want in your garden is a large unhealthy plant. Unhealthy plants are a magnet for unwanted pests in the garden. Sure bolted plants can attract pollinators, but if they are diseased and way past their prime - they can also attract a lot of bugs you don’t want in your garden. Pests go for weak plants first. Time to go!
Is the bolted plant taking up space where a new plant could go? We see this all the time. We get so attached to plants, we are too slow to remove them and miss important planting windows for other plants in the garden. If something else can go in the bolted plant’s spot, pull it!
Did you know there are small windows this month to plant things like cucumbers and beans? Do you have our planting calendar? The Monarch Team works in gardens every day, and we guarantee our clients they can eat from their gardens every single week. We pass our growing schedule on to you in our planting calendar!
The goal in the spring is to get as many plants in the garden as possible so they can develop strong root systems before it starts to become an inferno. Don’t leave a bolted plant in the garden and miss planting something else that needs time to develop before our city heats up!
HELPFUL LINKS
Want to learn to garden? In Monarch Garden Society we help Houston-area gardeners go from confused about growing in our area, missing important planting deadlines, and wasting precious time and money to feeling confident, eating more from their garden, and saving valuable time and resources!
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