One of the busiest months of the year. Spring is well underway.
Here are some jobs to be getting on with this month:-
Plant Maintenance
- As spring flowering deciduous shrubs finish, like Forsythia, its time to do any pruning required.
- Cut back shrubs grown for winter stems, like Cornus alba (Dogwood), to encourage new growth for next winters display.
- Give roses their first feed and mulch to retain water. Second feed after flowering.
- Tie-in climbing roses. Bend over any upright stems and tie in horizontally to encourage more flowers.
- Lightly trim lavender, not into old wood, to remove old flower heads and create the desired shape.
- Feed Camellia’s with an Ericaceous feed and then mulch around stem to reduce water loss.
- Soils warming-up, so ideal time to plant new trees and shrubs.
- As perennials start to grow, think about staking tall plants like Delphiniums, and providing support for bushy plants before they get too large.
- Keep sowing half hardy annuals, such as Cosmos & perennial seeds, such as Delphiniums under cover.
- Harden off germinated seedlings ready to be planted out.
- Pot on cuttings from tender perennials, such as Salvias.
- If you’ve overwintered pelargoniums, take cuttings as new growth appears. They root very well. More plants for this year.
Bulbs/Tubors
- If you’ve not already done so, plant out Dahlia tubors under cover. Should be showing signs of new growth during April, ready to take soft wood basal cuttings.
- Plant out summer flowering bulbs such as Lillies
- Keep Deadhead spring flowering bulbs, like Daffodils. Put the energy into forming new ‘offsets’, instead of seed, for next years flowers.
Lawns
- Cut lawns on dry days, keeping mower set high to encourage grass to thicken up.
- Rake out any dead grass to allow air circulation.
- Sow lawn seed on any sparse areas. Use ‘shady’ mix for those areas not getting full sun.
- Aerate any compacted areas of lawn whilst ground still soft. Could be one of the reasons you have moss.
General gardening jobs
- Hanging baskets – start planning what plants you want. Keep any bought/grown under cover until risk of frost has passed.
- Start watering containers if we get sustained dry or hot spells.
- Weeds – keep ontop of annual weeds by hoeing between plants. Perennial weeds will start to grow rapidly. Dig out as much of the root as you can.
- Encourage wildlife into your garden. Best way to control pests. Provide water for birds and insects.
- Slugs/snails – there coming, so work out your strategy. Try to use a cultural methods of control: barriers, traps, distractor plants…or biological controls like Nermaslug (nematodes). RHS has good advice : https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?pid=228
- Ponds – as water warms up it’s the ideal time to add new plants. Introduce sinto shallow water first to let them acclimatise before lowering to planting depth.