By Sara Milne
April is when the gardening season really kicks off. Not only is it a busy month for gardeners in general, but it also sees the start of National Gardening Week (28 April-4 May).
Weather permitting, you can get a head start on your growing plans, whilst keeping an eye out for any late frosts that might threaten your efforts. It’s always a good idea to have some cloches or horticultural fleece close to hand to protect seeds and young plants if the temperature dips.
A good way to ensure some heat stays in the ground, and that also provides much needed nutrients to growing areas, is to apply a layer of mulch around your perennials, trees and shrubs. If you do this once you have weeded then the surface of the soil will have been loosened and the mulch will help conserve ground moisture and make weeding later on easier. You can use home grown garden compost or buy bagged mulch from garden centres. Shovel it in between the plants, and spread to a depth of about 5cm. Work from the back to the front of beds to avoid walking on the newly mulched areas.
It’s also a key month for planting fruit and veg in the garden, and from now on until late autumn you will be sowing, planting and harvesting. Finish off sowing seeds for early lettuces, summer carrots, dwarf peas, summer spinach and broad beans and start sowing beetroots, brassicas (broccoli, cauliflower, sprouts and cabbage), peas, turnips and swede. You can also plant first early potatoes, weather dependent. For beginners, some of the easiest fruits to grow are berries. Strawberries and blueberries love containers and both will crop heavily once established.
Another plant that loves container life (as well as being in borders) is Lavender – and now is the perfect time to plant it so that you can enjoy it throughout the summer. It’s a favourite with gardeners not just for its beautiful form and fragrance but also because it attracts essential pollinators such as bees and butterflies. Most gardeners get the urge to plant it in their garden sooner or later as it can add real value with its scent and shades of purple flowers and silver leaves. To successfully grow lavender, it needs to be planted in a warm, well-drained soil with full sun – and it doesn’t like ‘wet feet’ as it promotes root rot and ‘dampness’ is often the reason that it doesn’t perform well. It’s a tough plant though and once established only requires regular pruning after flowering has finished in the Autumn.
If there is one job to be done this month it’s to …plant out some sweet peas. Their fabulous fragrant blooms are an essential part of summer and perennial varieties come back year after year. Sweet peas need plenty of feed and moisture, so add compost or well-rotted manure to the soil. Water the plants in their pots before planting out and get supports ready to position at the same time. Plant sweet peas 20cm apart, pinch out the tops of leggy stems and protect them from slugs.
Some of the other garden jobs for April suggested by the RHS are:
- 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
