Which plants benefit from the Chelsea Chop?

Held at the end of May, RHS Chelsea Flower Show is the crown jewel of the gardening calendar where green thumbs gather, plants strut their stuff, and horticultural creativity blossoms. While it’s a busy time for designers sculpting prize-winning show gardens, it’s also a busy time for gardeners who need to prune perennials. Coinciding perfectly with Chelsea Week, this timely prune has become widely known as – you guessed it – the Chelsea Chop!

Here, T&M’s quality control manager Kris Collins explains which plants benefit from the Chelsea Chop, and how to go about it… In the meantime, browse our full range of perennial plants for more inspiration.

What is the Chelsea Chop?

The Chelsea Chop is a clever pruning technique carried out in late May, around the time of the Chelsea Flower Show. It involves cutting back a wide range herbaceous perennials by about a third to a half. It also applies to subshrubs – plants that are largely herbaceous but with woody stems, like Salvia ‘Hot Lips’.

Why do it? Simple:

• It delays flowering – spreading your garden’s colour display further into summer.
• It reduces floppiness – no more mid-July faceplants from your flailing phlox.
• It encourages bushier growth and often more flowers, albeit slightly smaller.

You can chop the whole plant or just parts of it – giving you a staggered blooming effect. So from one plant you can get several flushes of blooms – garden magic!

Not just the garden – why we chop before we ship

As commercial growers, we use the Chelsea Chop as a strategic tool to make sure you receive healthier, bushier, and more floriferous plants when you order from us.

Trimming back growth just before plants leave the nursery encourages them to establish more compact, robust habits during transit and early establishment. It also means you don’t receive leggy plants that flower too early and flop in your borders. Instead, you’ll enjoy a longer flowering window and a garden that stays neater and more manageable – a win for everyone! The chop is part of our commitment to sending out plants that perform beautifully from the moment they arrive.

Which perennials love a good Chelsea Chop?

Here’s a bumper list of plants that respond brilliantly to the Chelsea Chop:

• Achillea (Yarrow)
• Asters (now often reclassified as Symphyotrichum)
• Campanula
• Coreopsis
• Echinacea (Coneflower)
• Eupatorium (Joe Pye Weed)
• Geranium (esp. ‘Rozanne’)
• Helenium
• Helianthus (Perennial Sunflowers)
• Leucanthemum (Shasta Daisy)
• Monarda (Bee Balm)
• Nepeta (Catmint)
• Penstemon
• Phlox paniculata
• Rudbeckia
• Sedum (now Hylotelephium, e.g. ‘Autumn Joy’)
• Solidago (Goldenrod)
• Stachys (Lamb’s Ear)
• Veronica
• Anthemis
• Boltonia
• Chrysanthemum (early-flowering types)
• Tanacetum
• Centaurea (Perennial cornflower)
• Hesperis (Sweet rocket)

Kris’s expert tips for Chelsea chopping

• Experiment! Try chopping half a clump and leaving the rest for varied heights and flowering times.
• Don’t panic – it might feel brutal, but these plants love a trim.
• Time it right – too early and you won’t delay flowering; too late and you’ll miss the window.

So there you have it – the Chelsea Chop: part science, part art, part rebellious act of gardening defiance. While others are planting out bedding, you’re giving your garden a growth-boosting haircut that’ll pay off all summer long. For more inspiration, see our top ten perennials article and learn how to plant a spectacular hardy perennial border.