APRIL GARDENING TIPS

April is characterised as the month of sunshine and showers. There’s a lot to feel excited about as spring blossoms into its full glory, and tulips and flowering cherries adorn the landscape with bursts of colour. Amidst the occasional rainy days punctuated by sunny interludes, you can turn your attention to tending the vegetable plot. This month marks the beginning of outdoor sowing, heralding the anticipation of fresh growth. However, it’s essential to remain vigilant of late frosts, ensuring the protection of tender plants indoors.

Here are our tips for making the most of the month ahead:

– Apply a rose fertiliser now to any roses you have in your garden and a high potash feed to flowering shrubs.

– Give your lawn a spring feed now. There are many products available including some combined products that feed and weed, saving you time.

– You can plant your chitted seed potatoes this month starting with first early varieties and finishing with main crop varieties.

– If you have a greenhouse, continue your sowing of summer flowering annuals and prick out any sowings you did last month moving them up into larger cells/pots. With any seedling you want to encourage a nice compact root system so it pays to slowly increase pot size. Typically seeds go from a seed tray to a divided cell tray or 6cm pot and then a 9cm pot before planting out.

– In April you can start feeding your indoor houseplants again. Follow the instructions on the fertiliser you use as you can over fertilise plants.

– Direct sow annuals such as sunflowers, pot marigolds and Californian poppies this month.

– If you have a greenhouse it maybe worth investing in an automatic vent opener. This simple device contains an oil and as the daytime temperature rises the oil expands which pushes the lever attached to your roof vent and thus opens the vent. As the temperature drops in the evening, the oil contracts and the vent closes. We sell these in our garden centre.

– You may need to repair patches of your lawn this month. We sell small packets of grass lawn seed or rolls of turf, which are all perfect for the job. Turf arrives on a Friday (subject to weather) and is available for sale each weekend only,  so we always suggest calling to reserve rolls before making a special journey.

– If you are going to cut your hedge, check for nesting birds first and hold off until all chicks have flown.

– Brighten up your garden by planting some spring flowering shrubs and herbaceous perennials. Our best sellers last year for April were Evergreen Azaleas, Rhododendrons as well as everyone getting ready for late spring with Lupins, Scabious and Geums.

– Love blueberries but not the supermarket prices? Try growing blueberry plants (Vaccinium corymbosum) in pots as many are partly or fully self fertile. Growing at least two different varieties will ensure cross-pollination and abundant crops. Plant in an ericaceous compost as blueberries are acid loving. Water regularly in dry spells and feed monthly with an ericaceous fertiliser – follow the guidance on the label and do not overfeed. You may need to net your plants to protect from birds.