Gardening Jobs for April

Hello April 

Find out what to do in your garden, allotment and greenhouse in April, with our handy, 'Simon says'. 

• Plant up hanging baskets and patio tubs with summer flowering plants and grow-on in frost-free conditions.  Remember to mix in slow, or continuous-release fertiliser to the compost when planting.

• Raise the air temperature around half-hardy plants by laying horticultural fleece over them on nights where frost is forecast.

• Scatter Fish, blood and bone, or chicken manure pellets over the soil around established trees and shrubs to give them a boost.

• Top up the mulch on established flower beds to reduce weeds and water evaporation.

• Sow Sweet Peas outside, where you want them to grow.

• Smash up clay clods that the frosts have failed to deal with in the vegetable patch and prepare for planting.

• Hoe off annual weeds in the vegetable patch, or use a pelargonic acid-based weedkiller to create a sterile bed for sowing and planting.

• Thin out carrot seedlings in the evenings when there are less carrot root flies sniffing about.

• Plant out 2nd early and maincrop seed potatoes.

• Place Cabbage collars around the base of brassicas to prevent Cabbage root fly from attacking. 

• Apply Evergreen 4-in1 to lawns to help create a lush lawn for the summer.

• Repair lawns by lightly raking bald patches and sowing new grass seed.

• Improve lawns on clay soils by using an aerator and filling the holes with sand.  Do not use spikes or forks on clay soil lawns, as that compacts the soil and leads to poor aeration and drainage.

• If aphid infections are too much for the blue tits to keep under control, spray them with a suitable bug killer late in the evening, when the bees are tucked up in bed!

• Feed the busy, wild birds who are busy rearing their new chicks.  

• Hang apple and plum moth traps in the fruit trees to keep an eye on the moth population and prepare for attack!!