Troy’s take on the ‘Chelsea chop’

Troy's take on the 'Chelsea chop'

Another task for late May or early June is the 'Chelsea chop'. I do it in a specific way to maximise the length of the flowering period.

The 'Chelsea chop' is done to delay flowering. We do this for plants that flower from midsummer onwards, such as:

• Veronica
• Phlox
• Campanula

We do a 'half-chop'. This means half the plant will flower soon and half will branch and flower later – you're engineering a succession to get two flowering periods around a month apart.

• Take half the stems in the clump down by about 15-20cm (6-8in).
• Select stems randomly from throughout the clump.
• You can use secateurs or snips, or finger and thumb to be quicker.

Further reading

• RHS guide to the 'Chelsea chop'
• RHS guide to the Hampton hack

Plant Directory

Campanula species and cultivars

Bellflowers

Hardy herbaceous perennials

Campanulaceae

Phlox paniculata

Perennial phlox

Hardy herbaceous perennial

Polemoniaceae

Veronica perennial species and cultivars

Speedwells

Hardy herbaceous perennials

Plantaginaceae