Monty Don recommends pivotal gardening job in August to encourage dahlias to 'keep producing flowers'

“Blooming from mid-summer until the first frost, dahlias are renowned for their extended flowering season,” note experts at Gardenia.

To ensure you get the most out of your blooms this growing season, Monty Don recommends deadheading them in the coming weeks.

This gardening practice encourages more blooms and prolongs the growing season while stopping the spread of unwanted seeds. It simply involves removing spent flowers from their stem.

Monty Don explained: “Dahlias will keep producing new flowers well into autumn as long as they are deadheaded regularly.

“The easiest way to tell the difference between a spent flower and an emerging bud is by the shape: buds are invariably rounded whereas a spent flower is pointed and cone-shaped.

“Always cut back to the next side shoot - even if it means taking a long stem - as this will stimulate new flowers and avoid ugly spikes of stem.”

The benefits of deadheading flowers are not just reserved for dahlias, as all blooms benefit from additional trimming.

Experts at the Royal Horticultural Society advise tending to hanging baskets to help them last until autumn.

“Deadhead plants such as roses and Penstemon and bedding to prolong the display of colour well into early autumn,” they explained.

Monty Don stresses that no other practice will prolong the flowering season of plants as much as deadheading.

“And if you do not have dahlias then deadhead anything and everything daily - nothing else is so effective in keeping summer flowers from lasting as long as possible,” he shared.

According to the Royal Horticultural Society, dahlias are like a “warm, sunny, sheltered spot with free-draining soil and regular feeding and watering to ensure the best flowering display”.

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For Britons planning a getaway over the next month, Monty recommends preparing the garden so it looks good on your return.

“Mow the lawn, weed and make sure plants are well supported,” he advised. “Pots are most likely to suffer in hot weather and an irrigation system is ideal, but at the very least, give them a good soak before you go.

“Ideally, move small pots into the shade and group them together, which will reduce evaporation.

“If you have sweet peas or vegetables ready to harvest ask friends or neighbours to come and pick them.”