April is a busy month for gardeners – there’s sowing and planting to be done – and it’s time to turn your attention to long lost friends such as your vegetable patch
It’s a key month for planting vegetables and fruit 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 the first early potatoes, weather dependent. For beginners, some of the easiest fruits to grow are berries.
Strawberries and blueberries love containers or open ground and both will crop heavily once established.
A simple garden solution for April is to create your very own veg patch. Mark out the area well, prepare the soil, dig in compost and then sow a variety of seeds that will provide you with veg all year round. It’s a common misconception that you need a lot of space to be able to grow vegetables.
You can still achieve real success with container grown plants. Tomatoes will thrive in pots and grow bags and can also be grown in the ground.
Another plant that loves container life (and being in borders as well) is Lavender – and it’s 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.
It’s considered a romantic flower that most gardeners get the urge to plant in their garden sooner or later and can add real value with its scent and shades of purple flowers and silver leaf backdrop. To successfully grow lavender, it needs to be planted in a warm, well drained soil with full sun.
It is often planted as an edging plant with roses or grown as an informal hedge.
Lavender does not 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.
April not only sees the start of National Gardening Week (April 26-May 2), but it really kicks off the gardening season so here are some top tips for this month from the RHS (Royal Horticultural Society)…
- Tie back climbing and rambling roses
- Keep an eye out for pests and keep weeds under control
- Start feeding plants in the garden from now to the end of the summer
- Sow seeds directly into the soil so they can flower in the summer
- Sow vegetable seeds directly into prepared beds
- Plant summer flowering bulbs
- Sow new lawns or repair bare patches
- Prune shrubs and trees
- Apply mulch or manure to flower beds and pots
- Prepare hanging baskets
