B&Q celebrity ambassador Alan Titchmarsh shares his top tips to growing a sunflower:

“This is a fun way to get children inspired to garden and what better way than to start with everyone’s favourite flower, the sunflower:

1. Make sure you plant the sunflower in a spot where it’s sunny all day long, these plants love the sun

2. Ensure that the plant has enough space, roughly 30 inches apart from other plants.

3. Water the plant as soon as you’ve planted it and remember to water infrequently to encourage the roots to grow deep.

4. When it gets to roughly 30cm high, support the plant with a bamboo stick. Doing this will encourage the plant to grow as tall as it can with the support of the stick.

5. To protect the plant from animals, buy some netting to drape over the plant. That way the plant will produce lots of seeds which are a tasty snack for birds

To see how to grow your own sunflower just log onto www.youtube.com/bandq.