Once your Gladiolus have finished their fantastic summer display what do you need to do in order to get the most out of these flowers next year? Let’s have a look and find out what to do with Gladiolus after flowering.
What To Do With Gladiolus After Flowering?
After the first frost, it will be time for most UK gardeners to lift their gladiolus corms and store them overwinter.
While it is possible to leave them in the ground over winter, for most of us in the UK this is a serious risk as it tends to get a little too cold over here.
If you do decide to risk leaving them in the ground then add a healthy thick layer of mulch such as straw or bark above the corms in order to give them the best chance possible.
Trimming Back The Foliage
Do not be tempted to cut back the foliage once your gladiolus has finished flowering. The leaves are still producing energy at this stage and all of this energy is going to the bulb where it will be stored over winter.
In order to get the best display possible next year you want to leave the leaves as long as possible, this is usually right up until the first frost of autumn when the leaves will die off naturally.
When it does come time to trim the foliage back then just use a pair of sharp secateurs or scissors and get chopping. As long as you don’t somehow damage the corm then you cant cause any lasting damage here.
Digging Up Corms
After the first light frost but before the first serious frost is when you want to be digging up your Gladiolus corms and storing them for winter.
Carefully dig them up and knock and soil off the corm. Cut any growth off and then store the corms over winter in a cardboard box with lots of newspaper in it.
Store Over Winter
Keep them in a dry place like a garage or greenhouse and they will be ready to plant out next spring.
There are lots of different ways to store gladiolus corms over winter but I like the method I mentioned earlier, a cardboard box with plenty of newspaper in.
Any dark, dry spot that won’t be affected by frost will work well for storing your corms until springtime rolls around again.
Stagger your planting
it is a good idea with Gladiolus to stagger the planting of bulbs. Plant a few every couple of weeks.
This is due to how short-lived gladiolus flower blooms are, if you stagger your planting you will be able to enjoy the show for a lot longer.