Gardening Tips for April

Tulips courtesy of www.photojennic.co.uk

Childrens Gardening Kit from WildWindmill.com

Daisies courtesy of www.photojennic.co.uk

Spring has sprung and the daffodils have faded away but now is the time to give them a treat of liquid feed both over the plant and around the bulb to ensure a good show next year.

You can sow many flower seeds directly into beds by the end of this month, among them hardy annuals like cornflowers and nasturtium.

Spray fruit trees to keep off the aphids but make sure you avoid spraying any open flowers. Early this month you can also plant or transplant trees and shrubs and finish off pruning any evergreens so that new shoots can ripen. Remember to prune back the forsythia once it has finished flowering.

April is the time to plant summer flowering bulbs such as dahlias and lilies and to divide perennials like delphiniums and chrysanthemums to plant in new areas of the garden. It’s also the time to plant new rosebushes before growth really starts in earnest.

Clematis can be planted out now and honeysuckle and jasmine planted in pots around the patio to provide fragrant cover for fences and outhouses. These also need lots of watering and protecting from slugs and snails. Indeed, now’s the time to take on the pesky slugs which are emerging, using slug-pellets or liquid slug killer around plants at risk.

Keep cutting the lawn and sharpen up the edges with an edging iron. Gradually cut it shorter until it’s at summer height. Applying a springtime lawn fertilizer in April will liven up its colour and should you have a problem with moss use a lawn fertilizer which combines with a moss-killer. If you aerate the lawn now with a garden fork, spiking holes over the surface, it will be better able to soak up water.

You can also sow or turf new lawns or bare patches, making sure you soak new turf and keep it moist until the new roots take hold and spreading compost or soil over seed to keep in the moisture.