Gardening column
By Sara Milne
TIME TO REVIST YOUR GARDEN
IT’S time to reacquaint yourself with your garden. Take some time out and just sit for a few minutes
with a cuppa, having a think about your plans and ideas for the coming growing season whilst
listening to the birds. And if the sun is shining, then there is even more to smile about.
In addition to it being the month when colourful tulips are in full bloom, it’s also a time of heady
action in the garden – summer bulbs can be planted, you will need to start supporting your
herbaceous plants and prick out seedlings. Planting generally is in full swing, particularly plants
bought in containers. The soil is now relatively warm and rain is normally fairly frequent. Trees,
shrubs, roses and perennials planted in the ground now will have plenty of time to establish their
roots before summer. In the vegetable garden it’s time to plant hardy herbs, grow pumpkins,
asparagus, tomatoes and beans.
If you sowed sweet peas in the autumn, or have bought some in pots from your local garden
centre, then now is the time to plant the seedlings out. You can also plant sweet pea seeds straight
in the ground or in deep pots filled with compost. Good light is essential to stop young plants
becoming weak and lanky. If you pinch out the growing tips when the seedlings reach 10cm tall this
will encourage stronger and multi-flowered plants. Sweet peas are perfect for picking and are easy
to grow in pots or in the ground, training them up a frame for a beautiful display. Planting sweet
peas near a seating area means you can smell them as you sit and relax in the garden – one of the
best smells of the summer. They come in a variety of colours and sizes, for example: Lathyrus
vernus ‘Alboroseus’ is a hardy perennial bush-forming sweet pea that has tiny pink and white flowers
in April, reaching 35cm in height and spread; Lathyrus odoratus ‘Matucana’ is a hardy annual that is
a hugely popular old-fashioned sweet pea with scented two-tone purple flowers in summer, ideal for
picking; and Lathyrus odoratus ‘Lord Nelson’ is a hardy annual grown for picking with blue flowers
and a highly rated scent in summer with a reach of 2m.
Another summer smell – and taste – is mint which will be showing new growth from its winter die
back this month. It’s one of the best herbs for attracting pollinators such as hoverflies, lacewings,
bees and butterflies into the garden. Keeping it controlled is essential as mint tends to take over
pots and beds with its robust root system, so now would be a good time to thin out any existing mint
plants to let new shoots flourish. Apart from being a useful culinary herb mint also makes a great
herbal tea. Peppermint leaves contain several essential oils that are released when steeped in hot
water, including menthol, menthone and limonene. Collectively, these give peppermint tea its’
refreshing, cooling, minty taste. Peppermint tea can aid digestion and may also relieve an upset
stomach. In some cases, it has been seen to relieve symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). If
you are growing your own mint, then make sure it’s planted in moist but well-drained soil in full sun
to partial shade.
It’s an exciting month as you get back into the garden and start to sow outdoors, but look out for
frosts and keep any tender plants indoors for now. Here are some top gardening tips for the month
from the RHS:
Keep weeds under control
Start sowing seeds outdoors
Sweet peas can be sown and planted outside
Plant out main crop potatoes
Plant new pond plants and divide waterlilies
Sow new lawns or repair bare patches
Lightly cut back lavender to stop it getting too leggy or woody
Last chance to prune climbing or rambling roses
Divide bamboos
Protect fruit blossom from late frost
And finally …
“Sweet April showers, do spring May flowers.” Thomas Tusser 1557.
