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April is here and spring is well and truly in the air!
Often described as the most beautiful month of the year with things bursting into bloom, bringing fantastic colour and scent to the garden. It’s a busy month but as the days get longer, there’s plenty of time to enjoy your garden, so get ready for another great year of growing.
Here are our top gardening jobs for April…
Spring is a great time to aerate your lawn as the soil is moist and the grass is actively growing. If your lawn gets soggy and suffers from puddles, aeration will help. Feed with a high-nitrogen feed and sow lawn seed to fix any bare patches (see our Spring Lawn Guide for more tips).
Shrubs such as winter jasmine and forsythia finish flowering in April, so once their display begins to fade, prune by cutting a third of the growth away and then feed.
Give established lavender, sage and rosemary a light trim, taking care not to cut back into the woody parts of the plant.
Deadhead spring bulbs like daffodils and tulips once the flowers have faded, but leave the foliage to die back naturally.
Hydrangeas are extremely popular for their huge flowers in glowing shades of pink, blue and mauve. To keep them healthy and compact, first remove all the dead flower-heads. Cut out all dead and crossing branches and cut back the flowering stems to the first strong and healthy pair of buds from the faded blooms.
At this time of the year, weeds can multiply quickly so it is best to remove them when they are small. After weeding, mulch the borders with compost, applying over moist soil, ideally after it has rained. The mulch helps to trap the spring moisture in the ground.
Get your vegetable beds ready for another season of planting by clearing them of weeds. Then mulch with well-rotted farmyard manure or garden compost to improve drainage and help soils retain moisture when it gets hot. It’s also a good time to tidy up your strawberry beds by cutting off the dead and diseased leaves. Thin out crowns and remove dead leaf litter around them.
This is the month to start off most of your sowings – broad beans, beetroot, Brussel sprouts, broccoli, cabbages, carrots, leeks, parsnip, peas and spinach.
Plant second early and maincrop potatoes. Second early potatoes will grow well in large containers, but maincrops are best in the ground.
Plant onion and shallot sets this month, but net the beds to stop pigeons pulling up the young seedlings.
Feed cane fruits such as blackberries, gooseberries and raspberries.
If you don’t have space for a herb garden, try growing in pots and containers. Give plants plenty of sunshine, and plant them into well-gritted soil to ensure good drainage. Herbs often originate from hot climates, so try to replicate these conditions, and don’t overwater.
It’s also a good time to sow courgette and pumpkin seeds in small pots indoors. Tomato seeds can also be sown this month in the greenhouse or on a sunny windowsill. Keep sowing any tender vegetables you want to grow under cover, such as aubergines, sweetcorn and melons.
April Harvest the first asparagus shoots – they’re delicious steamed and served with butter!
Plant new perennials and shrubs, allowing them to settle in before the heat of summer. If the spring weather becomes dry, remember to water new plantings regularly.
Direct sow hardy annuals such as Nigella, cosmos and poppies for great summer colour. You can also sow sweet pea seeds directly outdoors in April.
Plant out sweet peas that were sown in autumn and make sure they have a support structure to climb up. Pinch out the growing tips of the seedlings to give you bushy plants that will produce masses of flowers.
Feed shrubs and trees with a slow-release fertiliser. Roses in particular will appreciate a dose of fertiliser as they come back into new growth.
Hanging baskets are an easy way to introduce a splash of colour. We have a wide range of plants to choose from. Plant up baskets using good multi-purpose compost and a slow-release fertiliser. Once potted up, place in the greenhouse until the last frost has passed, giving plants a chance to become established. Then, harden off and place them in their final hanging positions.
Don’t forget to come along to our FREE hanging basket and container talk and demonstration on April 18th at 3pm.
We have everything you need to get your garden into great shape for the year, so come in and see what’s in store!
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Garden Centre
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The Garden Restaurant
| MONDAY | 09:00 - 17:00 |
| TUESDAY | 09:00 - 17:00 |
| WEDNESDAY | 09:00 - 17:00 |
| THURSDAY | 09:00 - 17:00 |
| FRIDAY | 09:00 - 17:00 |
| SATURDAY | 09:00 - 17:00 |
| SUNDAY | 09:00 - 16:30 |
Garden Centre open for browsing only on Sunday until 10:00
Telephone: 01243 756175
Email: customerservice@brickkilngardencentre.co.uk
Bognor Road, Chichester, West Sussex, PO20 1EJ