What to do in the garden in April

What to do in the garden in April

April showers may feature this month – but so does increasingly warm sunshine, making planting and pruning a pleasure. Here are a few of the jobs to be getting on with this month:

General tasks:

  • Clean water features scrubbing off algae, fallen leaves and other debris then rinsing before refilling.
  • Rake over patches of coarse grass in the lawn to raise them up before mowing so they’re cut right back and don’t take over.

Ornamental gardens

  • Plant summer-flowering bulbs like lilies, ornamental alliums, gladioli and camassia. They’re as happy in containers as in the border - a fantastic way to brighten up your terrace.
  • Tie in climbing and rambling roses while stems are still young and flexible, training them horizontally to encourage lots of flowers.
  • Prune forsythia once it’s finished flowering, pruning out the oldest flowered stems back to outward-facing shoots.

Kitchen garden:

  • Earth up potatoes by mounding soil over stems to protect them from late frosts and encourage more tubers to form.
  • Sow calabrese in modules on a bright windowsill or in a cool greenhouse ready for planting next month.
  • Pot on vegetables sown in modules last month, moving them into the next pot size up so roots continue growing.

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