Strawberries will be 'amazing' if you do one simple five-minute task this month

If you want beautiful, juicy growing in your this summer, there is one simple task you need to do, an expert has revealed.

Ish, who is known to his 48,000 TikTok followers as @gardening.with.ish, says that for a this year, you should pinch away the first strawberry flowers.

While it may sound "a little bit mad" to cut away the thing you are trying to grow, there is a science behind it, he adds.

"If you're starting to get your first flower on your that's great, but it's not focusing the energy on the leaves and root development.

So, as a result, cutting those away is actually more beneficial than it is harmful," he explains.

Fortunately, it is simple to pinch out the flower. You need to simply take two fingers and push firmly on the stem to remove the flower - but you can also use secateurs if need be.

"By doing that stunting of growth you'll focus more energy of the root development on your plant and the leaves too," Ish tells followers. This is good for plants like ever-bearers as they will produce fruit from June until September.

Pineberries, white strawberries, can also benefit from pinching off - and Ish says that from June onwards you can expect a happier, healthier, and bushier plant, with "better fruit", too.

Ish explains that you can recognise when there is a flower to be pinched as there will be a cluster of little flower buds forming. He says: "If you're still unsure however it's ok to let it start flowering so you can tell what to pinch."

When it comes to protecting strawberry plants, Ish says he uses netting at the early stages, but then switches to organza bags around the fruit when they start to grow. This allows the fruit to ripen inside as there is light and airflow, but means dogs and squirrels can't get to them.

With raspberries, he likes to leave them alone until they get to a nice height, before snipping the tops to encourage them to bush out and fruit more. He does the same with blackberries, too.

There are different types of strawberries that you can plant in your garden, including summer-fruiting, perpetual, and alpine varieties. The Royal Horticultural Society explains that if you plant several different types, you can have harvests from early summer all the way through to autumn.

Summer-fruiting strawberries are the most common type in British gardens. They have a cropping period of two-to-three weeks in early-to-mid summer, and produce the largest fruit.

Meanwhile, perpetual strawberries - also known as ever-bearers - produce small flushes of fruit over a long period, RHS explains. Strawberries can be grown in grow bags, pots, hanging baskets, or tubs, and the plants need regular attention - including being kept free from weeds, watered in dry spells, and fed annually.