Tina Woodhams Gardening Notes For April
At last we are rewarded by warmer temperatures and the gardens are really starting to wake up. Make the most of good gardening weather, dodge the April showers and get busy when there is so much to do and make life easier later on in the season!
Remove faded daffodil flowers before the seed pod swells to ensure a good display next year, leaving the foliage to die down naturally. A general fertiliser can be applied to all spring bulbs once they have finished flowering. Continue deadheading winter flowering bedding such as pansies and wallflowers as these can provide a continuous display until you plant up the summer bedding, remembering to water pots as necessary.
Even as the ground temperature begins to rise, be vigilant of any late spring frosts and keep tender plants under cover at night for a few more weeks.
Start to spray plants such as roses to limit mildew and rust, and remove any dead leaves from plants to prevent rotting. Aphids multiply rapidly during mild spells of weather and can be removed simply by rubbing off by hand. Protect the new young shoots of hosta, dahlia, lupin and delphinium from slugs early to minimise damage.
Remove any weeds from the flower borders and make some room to sow annual seeds next month. Now is a great time to plant summer flowering bulbs – either in the beds or in planters. Place supports around perennial plants before they grow too large which will save you time later on and is easier to do now rather than when they are flopping over!
After the winter, lawns may benefit from aeration and a feed to replace lost nutrients and encourage the grass to flourish. Sow vegetable seeds such as runner and French beans, cucumber, courgette, squash and pumpkins
If you have planted your first-early seed potatoes, they may already be showing signs of growth above the soil surface and these should be earthed up to avoid any damage caused by a late frost. This will also help to increase the potato crop. Plant your second-early and main crop seed potatoes, either directly into the ground or into suitable containers.
Earlier sown seedlings such as tomatoes and peppers may be transplanted into larger pots before finally being planted out in readiness for cropping.
What’s not to love about this month? Spring is in full swing and the extra daylight hours mean that we can finally get cracking – Happy Gardening!