Spring Has Sprung for the Gardening Jobs in April
April really steps into its own with the grass growing fast, and the warmth of the sun on your face makes it a joy to be in the garden after a long, cold and wet winter. Spring is now well under way, with warmer temperatures, longer days, and rapid plant growth. It’s the perfect time to plan and prepare for your beautiful garden ahead. Here are the key jobs to focus on in your garden this April.
Lawn Care
Lawns start growing vigorously in April, so regular mowing begins this month. Set the mower blades higher for the first few cuts to avoid stressing the grass. If your lawn has bare patches, sow grass seed, a 50/50 mix of dwarf rye grass and fescue will provide a good, hard-wearing lawn or 100% fescue for a more luxury lawn. You can lay new turf if speed is required. Applying a spring lawn feed which is high in Nitrogen (15-20%) will help promote lush, vibrant green growth. Either a organo-mineral fertiliser or one with a high percentage of slow or controlled release Nitrogen is best, unfortunately, most shop bought or garden centre fertilisers are fast release and can cause scorch if not watered in. A controlled-release fertiliser will last up to 3 months, reducing the need for more frequent visits, contact us for more information on this.
Beds and Borders
April is a prime time for planting a wide variety of flowers. Hardy annuals such as poppies, cornflowers, and marigolds can be sown directly into garden beds for summer colour. Planting perennials this month will give them a great start, as the soil is warmer but still wet, and will help them put on strong growth for the season ahead. You can also divide clumps of perennials if you have some large groups, plant into soil with well-rotted compost and some fertiliser, water in the plants if the weather is dry. Unfortunately, spring will likely see a huge rise in slug and snails, particularly if it’s a wet/warm spring, biological control would include Nematodes which can be watered onto the soil, however, the soil needs to be wet for the nematodes to move through the soil to attack the pests. Slug pellets are very effective at killing the pests but if you are worried about pets or wildlife, then consider using beer traps, small trays filled with beer are excellent traps and work very well, though fair warning, it’s not a particularly pleasant job to empty the trays. Finally encouraging hedgehogs, frogs and thrushes into your garden will work well too, place a flat stone in your border and thrushes will use this to smash op snail shells!
Apply a liquid fertiliser to your plants, this will give them a much needed boost after the long, cold, wet winter, the veg patch and fruit gardens require the most help, as always read the manufacturer instructions and
don’t be tempted to overfeed.
Foxglove seedlings may be present, if so, water them then gently lift and replant in your desired position.
Spray roses for blackspot, you will likely have to do this at regular intervals as blackspot is relentless. Finish up dividing perennial clumps and refresh the soil they’re going into with compost and a small handful of chicken manure pellets
Weeding and Mulching
You are going to be kept busy weeding now, hand weed or use a hoe if you have large beds, water the plants and mulch thickly with mushroom compost, home compost or nursery bought. This will have two benefits of saving you time on weeding over the next few weeks, and keeping the moisture in the soil, April can be a very hot month, and young plants will need your help and care.
Pruning and Deadheading
April is a great time to prune the more delicate shrubs such as Lavatera (Tree Mallow) a favourite of mine, also foliage shrubs, Sambucus (elder) or Cotinus (Smoke Bush), Now is a good time to prune Forsythia to encourage next years flowers, cut the flowered stems back to a healthy side-shoot, preferably pointing upwards and out. Trim lavender, and hardy herbs like rosemary and thyme to encourage bushy growth. You should be deadheading faded flowers on spring bulbs, such as daffodils and tulips, now, this will help conserve energy for next year’s blooms, though don’t cut the foliage yet!.
Climbing Plants
Install trellises, canes, or netting to support climbing plants like sweet peas (if you sowed seeds in October). Tying in new shoots of climbing and rambling roses will help to produce more flower buds along the stem, otherwise left to grow upright, all the flowers will be at the top and nothing below.
I hope you’ve got something out of this months post, please pop back for May’s edition, or if you missed it, here’s April’s Gardening tips.
Paul