Top gardening tips: five quick and easy ways to keep your garden flowering during the hot summer months

We all go to seed eventually, but it’d be nice if the garden could last through the barbecue season.

In August, just as we’re spending most time out there, our favourite flowering plants lose their oomph, providing no colour to complement our new outdoor cushions.

These five simple tips will keep your garden flowering fabulously during this hottest of months, even if you can spare only a few minutes a day.

When a flower has faded, it turns into a seedhead and the plant stops producing any more blooms. Snip off faded flowers before they set seed so the plant keeps on flowering.

Cosmos, marigolds, roses, Shasta daisies, California poppies, dahlias, rose campion and zinnias will all reward you with new flowers if you snip off the old ones.

Cut back to the next flower bud down.

Break off the old flowers of your potted pelargoniums back to the main stem. If they’re ready, they’ll come off cleanly with a snap.

Mini snips let you do the deadheading one-handed (Mini Snips, £5.99, burgonandball.com). A Hip Trug (£7.99, burgonandball.com) will keep your hands free for tidy deadheading as you go.

As for hardy geraniums, shear them down to the ground now in one go and they will bounce back with a new lease of life.

If you’re going on holiday, time it for just before you leave and they’ll be looking better by the time you get back.

Frequent watering in August is unavoidable but lawns and established plants can be ignored.

Concentrate on potted plants and new arrivals. Five minutes a day before or after work is a good routine.

Spray hoses are convenient but can be fierce. The gentle Gardena City Gardening Balcony Sprayer (£9.99, robertdyas.co.uk) won’t create a mudbath on your decking.

For rooftops, terraces or balconies, attach your sprayer to a 10m Terrace Hose (robertdyas.co.uk, £26.49) which automatically rolls up after use. Or fit an automatic watering system.

If you haven’t an outside tap, the Gardena Adaptor for Inside Taps (homebase.co.uk, £3.50) lets you attach a hose to an inside kitchen or bathroom tap.

Don’t waste time pulling up weeds by the roots in summer. Chop off the tops with a hoe and leave them on the soil to shrivel up in the sun.

A long- or short-handled razor hoe is small enough to avoid damaging plants (£29.99, burgonandball.com).

Summer-flowering plants need a lift.

Water on a general liquid plant food such as Miracle-Gro All Purpose Concentrated Plant Food (£4.42, diy.com) or a tomato fertiliser high in potash to encourage more flowering every couple of weeks.

Next year add a handful of slow-release fertiliser to the compost when planting and you won’t have to bother to feed later.

Smarten up edges of lawns with shears or a lawn edger. For a classy finish, do what professional gardeners do — make the edge of the flower bed a little lower than the lawn to create a neat shadow gap.