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Deadhead Euphorbias safely

EUPHORBIAS SELF seed very easily in UK gardens and can overtake your plot if left to their own devices, says Emilie. This is all well and good if you want your garden to look like a euphorbia farm but I think I can say that the majority of us don’t want to be digging emerging seedlings up throughout the summer.

Euphorbias give their best show in May and June and this is when they will put out the most flowers. As with any flowering plant the flowers will eventually fade and produce viable seeds that will disperse and germinate. To avoid this from happening in your garden you will need to deadhead your Euphorbias as soon as the flowers start to fade. It’s a good idea to dispose of the spent blooms by binning or burning them.

Caution is needed with this job. You need to be aware of the milky sap secreted from stems when cut. The sap contains chemicals that react with the sun. Many people are allergic to the sap and if it gets on your skin it can effectively burn you, causing blisters to appear. This is a very unpleasant experience trust me!

So wear gloves. I tend struggle with secateurs when wearing thick gardening gloves, so I just use one on the hand I am holding the plant in. However, if there is a pair of thin rubber gloves around, then these can be worn instead, and I can ‘feel’ the secateurs through these. Keep children and pets stay away from Euphorbias for a good 24 hours after they have been cut, just to be on the safe side.