Heading to a field full of sunflowers is one of the many things to look forward to with the arrival of summer, but they’re also easy to grow in your own back garden. While they might not be as impressive as a field full of the vibrant stems, even adding a few flowers is enough to brighten up gardens, and they’re fairly easy to care for, too. The resilient plants don’t require too much attention as long as they get enough sunlight and are placed in nutrient-rich soil.
An annual plant, sunflowers can be sown from mid-April until the end of May, meaning it’s a perfect time to add them to your garden if you want to see them flower by August. They’re also hugely important to the bee population, as they provide a large amount of nectar and pollen for the insects. While they’re fairly easy to take care of, there’s quite the distinction between the various sizes of sunflowers available on the market, and depending on the space you have in your flowerbed, you may want to pay close attention to the different seeds.
If you are looking to add the stunning plant to your flowerbeds, one gardener has shared his top tips for growing sunflowers this month, which will be “healthy, happy and tall” come August.
Gardening with Ish posted a video on TikTok with his beginner-friendly tips for adding sunflowers to your garden in May, but advised to check what seeds will work best for your flowerbeds.
Suitable for borders or kept in pots, the Little Dorrit variety reaches around 60cm tall, making for a more compact sunflower that you can add to smaller gardens without it taking up too much space.
Comparatively, the giant sunflower can climb 1.8m in height, while the titan can grow up to a whopping 3m, producing some impressive flower heads. Ish points out that not all sunflowers are yellow, and you can even opt for the evening red variety, which produces red petals.
When it comes to growing sunflowers, depending on the variety, you’ll want to either choose a pot or the ground. While smaller varieties can be planted in pots, larger varieties “need something to anchor into” and do better planted directly into the ground.
Getting the soil right is important for sunflowers, though. “Sunflowers love a really good, well-rotted compost that has a good amount of drainage in it”, said Ish. He recommends going with a multipurpose compost as this “will drain quite nicely but still retain a little bit of moisture which will keep these nice and happy”.
Once your soil is prepared, add the seeds, but make sure “you only plant them about 1.5cm deep or half an inch,” with Ish explaining that they “really don’t need to be that deep.”
Make sure to place it in a spot that gets plenty of sunlight, and keep the soil hydrated so that the seeds can soak in. Once they begin to sprout, make sure to water them every couple of days, but “don’t be afraid to water them every day” once summer arrives to keep your flowers “happy and hydrated”.