In July and August the garden is running at full tilt towards the end of summer you start to see the beginning to be the first few signs of a slowdown and the change of the seasons.
And while the green fingered among us might already know the best way to prolong colour in your garden to cut back your plants, using an easy technique when doing your cuttings will also nab you some free plants.
"While cutting back your flowers, be sure to save the seeds for a simple way of harvesting free plants next year", urges Peter.
Read more: Garden expert's top tips for growing your own herbs
"If you’ve had delphiniums for example, if you're cutting back to promote a second flush, wait for the seed heed to ripen. It’s green after flowering but if you wait for it to turn brown now it’s ripe for cutting. After you cut off the seed head instead of throwing it out, I shake out the contents onto a newspaper on the kitchen table and I get rid of any of the chaf and anything we don’t want and I put the seeds in an envelope to keep for later in the year or the following year."
He adds: "you can do that with loads of perennial plants and even your annuals and then you can grow them for new plants next year for free. You can do this with Poppies, Verbena Bonariensis, Aquilegia and Teasel."
“The technique is the same for all of them, you let the seed heads dry on the plant, don't harvest them when they’re green, you can let them go brown and you’ll see they will pop open for the seeds to get out. Cut them on a dry day and store the seeds in a brown paper bag or an envelope, don’t use a plastic bag because of the moisture level. You can either sow them this autumn or next year, it’s a quick and easy hack for free plants."
For more tips, follow Peter, The Irish Gardener at PeterDowdall.com.
Not sure where to go with your garden? The right place to start is an online garden consultation with garden design expert, Peter Dowdall here.
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