Blog
Phil’s blog
APRIL IN THE GARDEN
The growing season is under way now and hopefully we will be blessed with better weather.
Many people say that gardening begins at Easter. I guess that because Easter was so bad
most gardens are behind where they should be. Many opportunities will have been missed
because you will have bi-passed early spring and all the things we talked about last month
which should have been done by now. We are moving on now to jobs associated with
warmer weather.
It’s time for tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers etc. in your greenhouse. If you have somewhere
to keep them for a few weeks, you can hang up your summer hanging baskets, allowing
them to settle and grow which means they will be so much stronger when you finally hang
them out. Sweet peas can be planted out now; they are so much hardier than they look.
Your vegetable plants will be available to plant out and second early and main crop potatoes
should be planted this month. The lawns should be progressing well now and grass cutting
should be a regular job, but now you can feed the lawn to make it stronger for the summer.
Out in the borders much is beginning to happen, all the deciduous shrubs will be coming into
leaf, making all the plants which have looked dead overwinter, alive and full of colour. Many
shrubs will be flowering too, as spring is the main season for flowering shrubs. Skimmia,
Viburnum, Weigela, Deutzia, Kerria, to name but a few. Herbaceous will all be showing new
growth too, mounds of fresh green foliage giving promise of a riot of colour for the summer.
Some early species will already be in flower. Many of these are shade loving or woodland
plants flowering before the tree canopy becomes too dense.
April is also one of the best months for alpines, many species flower before it gets too warm
as this is what they are used to in their native habitat.
Early Clematis such as Alpina, Macropetala and Montana species are flowering now, these
are among the hardiest and most vigorous types so they are easy to grow and give a good
cover.
So much is changing week by week that it can be hard to keep up, but it is fascinating to
watch the season’s progress and to see how plants and wildlife adapt to the changing
season.
Make the most of your garden at this wonderful time of year.
Phil Dunnett