At the end of May to the beginning of June I plant my Dahlias. However, I have to prepare the ground in advance. Because my plot is very sandy I tend not to apply a generous quantity of well rotted farmyard manure until just a few weeks before planting. However, if my soil was on the heavy side I would apply it in the Autumn

I plant my plants out in double rows approximately eighteen inches apart with two feet between the rows. I then leave around four feet before the next double row.

Dahlia plants require support throughout the growing season as they can easily be damaged by strong winds. There are no right or wrong ways to support your plants. I used to use four foot canes with string tied around them, however, I now use plastic netting which is stretched over each double row supported by chestnut stakes at each end. This can be lifted up the posts according to how high the plant grows.

I give the plants a good watering in especially if it is dry at the time of planting and then give them up to two weeks before I start giving them some food.

I give them a high nitrogen feed on a weekly basis from the middle of   June through to the end of July then switch to a balanced feed for the remainder of the season. Some growers switch to a high potash feed from the end of August but as yet I have not tried this.

Towards the end of June I start to pinch out the growing tips of my plants as it is takes around eight weeks from stopping to flowering for most of the varieties that I grow. I usually stagger this procedure over a week or two so that I don’t get all my flowers at the same time.  Depending on what the variety is will depend how much of the growing tip I remove. If it is a large or giant variety I will usually leave just two or three pairs of leaves from the base of the plant. This will limit the amount of time it will take later on de branching the plant. If it is a medium variety I will leave maybe four to five pairs of leaves as this will allow eight to ten stems to branch out. Generally, the smaller the flowers the more breaks you allow to grow on.

It does seem a shame at the time to remove so much growth but after just a week or two you will see the difference with all the side shoots springing into life.

Once the plants start to put on an abundance of new growth the time to begin de branching begins. The idea behind this is to focus all the plants energy into producing a limited number of blooms which will improve the size and all round quality of the bloom. To achieve a show winning giant variety most growers will only grow two or three blooms per plant, three to five on a large, six to ten on a medium and eight to twelve on small flowered varieties. This depends on the variety and how it grows for you.

Towards the end of July and the beginning of August you will begin to see the first buds forming at the end of each stem. This is when the hard work really begins with the onset of disbudding. This involves removing the two side buds either side of the central main bud and usually at least the next set of side shoots below. This will improve the main flower and strengthen the stem. Again, depending on the variety, you may have to remove the side shoots further down the stem.

Throughout the season you may wish to spray your dahlias against insect attack and fungal infection. 2012 was a very wet season and for the first time ever my plants suffered from a fungal infection called Dahlia Smut. Having never suffered from any such infection before, I had not even considered spraying with fungicide as a preventative measure, but will do so in future. The disease appears to only affect the lower leaves causing white spots on the leaves that eventually turn black. Spraying with a fungicide appears to stop it from spreading but repeated spraying is required to prevent it from returning. The disease doesn’t appear to affect the tubers or the following years cuttings so there is no need to destroy affected plants. The disease doesn’t appear to affect the flowers either but does effect the quality of the foliage.

Then comes the yearly battle with the Dahlias worst enemy, the Earwig!

There are a number of ways to try and prevent damage to your prize winning blooms. These range from spraying with insecticide to filling flower pots with straw and turning upside down on a garden cane. My method of choice is to apply a generous amount of petroleum jelly to each stem near to the bud  which I rub up the stem for about four inches or ten centimetres in new money! The little critters seem to dislike the sticky barrier although one word of advice would be to stick with the more expensive brand of petroleum jelly and not a cheap alternative as I found out to my cost this year that the cheaper one doesn’t work quite so well. I would name the preferred brand but they haven’t agreed to sponsor me yet!!!

By the middle of August you should start to see the first signs of colour from your plants and from now on you will be enjoying some wonderful colourful blooms up until the first frosts blacken the plants and the whole process starts again ready for next year.