Monty Don has warned gardeners with any of these six plants in their garden to take extra care in the hotter weather, or face their flowers running out of control
While summer’s abundant sunshine is great news for most plants, gardening expert Monty Don warns it can spell disaster for some.
With the weather heating up, more Brits are spending time in their gardens. Plus, summer is one of the best times of year to enjoy fresh blooms and fruiting trees. Unfortunately, there are some downsides to the warm, bright mercury, which can cause certain plants to grow rapidly. In some cases, they grow faster than they can handle.
Monty Don is a presenter in BBC Two’s Gardener’s World and a bonafide gardening expert. In his blog, he warned: “The extra warmth of July often leads to a flush of lush growth that plants cannot support.”
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He continued: “The result is that borders can start to fall all over the place, plants outgrowing themselves and toppling chaotically – especially if lashed by rain, winds or thunderstorms.”
Crucially, he warns that “what was lovely profusion can become a disaster zone overnight”. Six plants that are prone to this issue include laceflower, sunflowers, cleome, Cosmos sensation, tithonias and Leonotis.
The fact that these flowers are typically planted individually also worsens the problem, as there are no other surrounding plants to support them.
Fortunately, there are some measures that can be taken to deal with this issue should it arise. All it requires is creating a support for your plants.
Monty advises that they can be staked to “half their height” and tied with soft twine. This allows them some movement without collapsing entirely.
To do this, Monty recommends having “hazel pea sticks or metal supports” ready to use. For herbaceous perennials, like paeonia and aster, Monty says you can “gently work round the borders” to ease plants upright.
This provides plants with the support that they need, but without making your garden borders too stiff or rigid in appearance. He adds that it should ideally look as though you haven’t done anything at all.
Other tasks that gardeners should take care to complete in July include deadheading roses, which ensures that they will continue to flower over the summer.
If you’re growing apples and pears, it’s also important to groom those back so that enough light and air can reach the ripening fruit. It also stops your trees from becoming overcrowded with unproductive branches.
You should also be on the lookout for diseases like tomato and potato blight, which can devastate crops. It grows particularly quickly in warm, humid weather.