Common Daisy

How to grow Common Daisy

Written by Steve Davis · Last reviewed 21 July 2026 · Written for UK gardens · How we research our guidance

Planting

A meadow plant, so it wants low fertility — on rich border soil it grows tall, flops and is short-lived. Sow seed in autumn or spring into bare ground, or plant plugs into cut turf in autumn. It establishes well alongside yellow rattle in a new meadow.

Pruning

Cut the whole plant back after flowering if you want to limit self-seeding, or leave it to shed seed and cut the meadow in late summer once seed has dropped.

Propagation

Seed is easy and germinates readily; established clumps can also be divided in autumn or spring. It self-seeds freely with no help at all.

Pests and diseases

Few significant problems. Leaf miners may make pale tracks in the foliage without affecting the plant's health.

Value to wildlife

The open daisy flowers are accessible to a wide range of insects, including hoverflies, solitary bees and beetles, which is why it earns its place in meadow mixes.

Notes

It self-seeds enthusiastically in a border. That is a virtue in a meadow and a nuisance in tidy planting, so deadhead if you do not want seedlings everywhere.

Some structured details on this page (such as tolerances, pH and hardiness) come from USDA PLANTS Database (public domain). The written guidance is GardenDecoded's own, researched as described in our editorial policy.

Other names for this plant

These names have all been used for Leucanthemum vulgare but are no longer the accepted name. You may still meet them on old labels, in books, or in nursery catalogues.

Others in Leucanthemum