Monty Don shares 'best way to extend flowering season' for sweet peas - 'it's important'

Picking flowers from sweet pea plants regularly with prolonged flowering season, the expert explained.

He said: "Few garden chores can be as pleasant or undemanding as this but be sure to regularly pick all the flowers from your sweet pea plants as it is the best way to extend their flowering season.

"Sweet pea flowers will rapidly develop seed pods in warm weather and these drain energy from the plant and trigger more seed production at the expense of flowers."

He said gardeners should wait just over a week between picking the flowers and doing this job thoroughly is "very important".

Monty said on his July blog: "I have found that the optimum picking period for sweet peas is about 10 days. It is important to remove every single flower - and to enjoy the resulting fragrant bunches of blooms for the house.

"Use scissors and cut the stems as long as possible and as soon as you see any seed heads remove them immediately. This way, in a cool summer, the plants can go on flowering right into September."

Britons can help their plants thrive with regular watering and using fertilisers. An expert shared how bananas can be recycled into a great facilitator for plant growth.

Sam Marlow from Garden Buildings Direct said: "We all know that kitchen waste is great for compost but did you know that there are other uses in the garden for kitchen waste?

"Instead of tossing away banana peels, chop them up and bury them in the soil around your plants.

"Banana peels are rich in potassium, which promotes healthy root growth and flowering."

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS

• In the garden with GB News: Pests - everything to know to protect your plants from cats, rodents, slugs and more
• Three-step hack revives peace lilies on the brink of death in 'just a few hours'
• Monty Don describes best way to deadhead roses in June so flowers last ‘as long as possible’

Britons have been given advice to keep their lawns looking their best in the warmer weather. They explained: “Summer can be a difficult time to maintain a pristine lawn as hot weather and less rainfall take their effects. Heat stress causes grass to wilt and brown, and lawns can become patchy where it has vanished completely.

“It’s difficult enough for our lawns to remain at their best during summer, but some of us inadvertently exacerbate the problem while trying to fix the problem.

“The most common mistake people make is mowing the lawn, which can cause significant damage to the grass and make it more vulnerable to disease."