Enjoy a 'second summer flush' from your favourite plants – experts say now is the time to act before it's too late

Are your pretty perennials suddenly looking a little worse for wear? August is the perfect time to give these returning plants a good trim to give your messy-looking flower beds a late summer shot at producing lush new shoots.

"Early August is a great time to cut back straggly perennials ready for a second summer flush," says the expert gardening team at Sarah Raven.

The team goes on to share professional advice on what to cut and how to do it efficiently to give your beds the best chance of a second summer display.

Expert tip to enjoy a second summer flush from perennials

Perennials are plants that appear in the garden year after year, such as Geraniums, Dianthus, Agapanthus, Irises and Lupins. In the video, the team are specifically referring to a flower bed filled with geraniums but the process applies to all perennials.

Are your "Geraniums and other perennials beginning to look a bit straggly and messy?" ask the professional gardening team at @sarahravensgraden Instagram. "This is completely normal at this stage of the year, but now is the perfect time to give them a haircut to make way for fresh vibrant growth and flowers further into late summer."

The caption accompanies a video demonstrating exactly how to carry out the 'haircut' with enough enthusiasm to encourage optimum regrowth.

"You want to be pretty brutal using a sharp pair of scissors or secateurs to cut the foliage right back to the ground so that all energy goes towards new growth."

The foliage you cut back can go straight into the garden waste or be utilised for making compost at home to aid your sustainable gardening efforts.

Removing the dead foliage and flowers is an easy way to keep your garden looking tidy, as well as encourage a second stage of growth to see out the late summer evenings spent in the garden (fingers crossed).

"Once removed you can see the new shoots at the base beginning to come up. It does look a bit stark now but you'll be amazed at how fast it grows." The team say that in "about 2 to three weeks" the new growth will fill the flower bed once again.

"It should last right the way through to the first frost." Leaving your garden looking fabulously lush right up until winter, when it's time to put your garden to bed for the colder months.

"Share with a friend who needs to see this," the team suggests, so here we are sharing the advice to ensure every garden gets a second chance at summer glory.