What to do in the garden in April

  • Ali

Here’s what jobs you should be doing in the garden this April to help your green spaces to look amazing.

Spring is one of my favourite times of the year. I love how new life is emerging all around us. The lambs are in the field behind our house and the bulbs are showing their delicate faces. In the garden there are lots of jobs to tackle this month. Here’s what I’ll be doing in the garden this April…

Potatoes

  • I should have done this last month but I’m only just getting around to chitting my potatoes! Put them into egg boxes in a cool bright place ready to plant as soon as the eyes have started to produce small shoots. Plant your potatoes as soon as possible later this April.

Borders

  • I’ll be doing a final tidy through the borders cutting back all the herbaceous plants I left last winter and weeding where soil is light and crumbly. I planted new borders last year and other than a couple of delphiniums everything has come through really strongly.
  • Support taller herbaceous plants especially delphiniums and peonies. As my delphiniums are new plants they’ll need staking in their first year to give them some added support.

Maintenance

  • Mulch, mulch and add more mulch – I’ll be adding well-rotted horse manure together with the contents of my compost bin. I’m also just in time to add a sprinkling of bone meal to established hedges – rake up any leaves and sprinkle the bone meal on the soil at the base. Hedges are hungry feeders so fertilising is really important to keep them healthy.
  • Turn the compost heap and begin to add fresh material. If you have access to manure (chicken or horse) add this in layers and it will help to get the composting process going.

Lawns

  • Your lawn should have had its first cut by now but remember to continue to set the blades quite high as you begin to get back on top of the lawn.
  • Renovate any grass as needed. If your lawn it is filled with moss you can use this to your advantage and rake it up to make decorations for the house. Wire bunches of moss and flowers (blossom, primroses, and newly emerging leaves) around a wire ring or heart for unique decoration. Keep them watered or spray every day and they will last for up to a week.

Ponds

  • Another gardening job for April is tidying up any ponds. Clear ponds and begin to plant marginal pond plants. Leave cleared plants on the water’s edge overnight to allow any creatures lurking in them to find their way back to the water.

Think ahead

  • You can start to plant up containers for summer and keep them under cover until all frosts have gone.
  • Sow annual flower and herb seeds.
  • Think about any Autumn colour you want to add with Dahlias. These fabulous plants have made a resurgence of late. My grandfather, who I credit with my love of gardening, used to grow prize dahlias! I’ll be adding some of the dark foliage Dahlias with bright flower heads to give my borders into an Autumn glow.

Don’t beat yourself up if the garden isn’t perfect – you have time yet. If you haven’t started on the garden yet, April is a great time to get outside and start working on it. If you have any questions about what jobs you should be doing in April or any month of the year – get in touch.