April Jobs - What a busy month

Magnolia in woodland garden benefitting from these warm temperatures

Glorious weather for the start of April – sunny, warm afternoons with cool breezes. Sadly, no rain so that means the priority is on watering any pots or newly planted trees, shrubs or herbaceous to help them settle and thrive. I realise it seems strange to be watering after a reasonably wet winter but trust me those plants are desperate for water. And if any of you have wondered why your tulips, particularly ones in pots, are short and stubby the answer is lack of water. Get those watering cans out!

Kitchen Garden – my priority right now with loads of seedlings awaiting the end of these cool, frosty nights. Will send some separate advice on ‘nurturing seedlings’ out.

·     Make sure you have planted all your seed potatoes now, particularly early varieties. Plant spacing depends on the variety (e.g. early, salad, main). Remember to earth up row once you see shoots emerging.  Placing some seed potatoes in bags instead of direct into earth should result in earlier potatoes for the kitchen.

·     Plant out your onions, shallots and garlic if you haven’t done so already. You might need to cover these with mesh or some kind of netting initially so keep the birds from uprooting them.

·     You can direct sow spinach, chard, kale and cabbage now.  And for something different why not try growing kohlrabi (my favourite), fennel or celeriac.

·    Keep up successional sowings of lettuce, radish, beetroot, peas, broad beans, spring onions and turnips. Sowing little and often will help to avoid a glut of produce at the same time.

·   Sow French beans, runner beans, squash, sweetcorn and courgettes under cover now for planting out once danger of frost has passed.

·    Make sure you have tidied your strawberry plants by removing old leaves and any remaining runners. I use strawberry mats around my plants to keep down slugs. Mulch and a good layer of straw also helps with pests as well as helping to keep the fruit off the soil where it can easily rot or be eaten by insects.

·    Mulch fruit trees, soft fruit bushes and canes now. They will all benefit from mulch as well as feed such as chicken manure pellets. Keep weeds under control around cane fruits and your strawberry plants as they can act as hosts to pests and diseases.

Perennials, Shrubs and Trees

·   If your winter-stemmed shrubs such as Cornus and Salix that are grown for their colourful foliage have not yet burst into leaf, you might just be able to prune them. The best time to prune is late winter/early spring while they are still dormant and developing buds. If in leaf, best to wait until next year!

·    Prune early flowering shrubs (Pruning Group 2), including Forsythia, Ribes and Chaenomeles (ornamental quince) only once the flowers have died back. Cut back the flowered branchlets to vigorous young growth lower on the main stem and remove one-third of old growth to the base. Next year’s flowers will form on this summer’s woody growth.

·    Continue planting new perennials and aim to get them into the ground by the end of the month so that they have sufficient time to establish while the weather is mild and wet. You should also finish dividing and replanting summer-flowering perennials.

·    As temperatures rise, you can safely prune more vulnerable shrubs and perennials such as hydrangeas, penstemons, lavender, helichrysums, ceratostigma, penstemons, etc. Be sure to cut just above a healthy bud.

·   April is a good time to start checking your box plants for box caterpillars and moths, particularly if temperatures are mild. Early prevention is key, and you can easily remove box caterpillars by hand if only a small infestation. We would recommend spraying your box with Xentari, a natural biological insecticide from early April and repeat every six weeks until September.

·    Tie in climbing and rambling roses as the new shoots emerge, training them to grow as horizontally as possible to encourage a greater number of side shoots. Shoots of climbers, such as Clematis, should also be tied in.

·    Plant out all summer-flowering bulbs by the end of the month.

Lawns

·    By now your lawn probably needs to be cut regularly. Blades should be at their highest setting when you first start mowing and can gradually be lowered each time you mow.

·     Don’t forget to avoid mowing patches of bulbs in the lawns as they need to be left for six weeks after flowering for the bulbs to store up enough energy for next year.

·    Smarten up your borders by edging your lawns using a half-moon edging iron or flatt-bladed spade. You’ll be surprised what a difference it makes!

·    Heavier soils can mean your lawn becomes heavy with thatch and moss. Now is a good time to think about scarifying and aerating your lawns to improve their health. Follow up with a good general fertiliser and water well.

·     Sow new lawns on prepared ground. Grass seed should be scattered evenly over a fine tilth, raked in lightly to improve seed to soil contact and then watered with a fine spray or sprinkler.

Cutting Garden

·     Plant out sweet peas! I typically plant one to each upright to avoid congestion and give them room. Be sure to tie in at the base and encourage it to wind around your support.

·     Pot up dahlia tubers that have been stored or that you have recently purchased to encourage strong shoots before planting in final place.

·    Continue to prick out seedlings sown earlier in the year. Harden off any that will be ready for planting towards the end of the month.

·    There is still time to sow hardy annuals such as marigolds, poppies, nigella, cosmos, Cerinthe, if you didn’t manage to last month.

Other Jobs

·     Sow wildflower seeds in bare patches of ground. Great way to encourage butterflies, bees and other insects.  Choose a wildflower mix suitable for your soil type, mix with sand to aid dispersal and scatter across bare soil. If dry weather, carefully water seedlings while small. You can also order wildflower plugs if that’s easier.

·     Keep an eye on the weather forecast; cold snaps are still likely so keep cloches or fleece handy for tender plants on frosty nights.

·     Be aware that the spring rain and milder temperatures will see a rapid increase in slug and snail populations. There are several organic ways they can be controlled, including nematodes and beer traps. It’s also worth encouraging hedgehogs, frogs, toads and thrushes into your garden, as they will consider those slugs and snails a tasty treat.

·     Aphid populations also start to increase at this time of year. Rub or hose them off infected plants to prevent colonies building up.