April Gardening Tips from Jo

Longer evenings in the garden – and plenty to do!

This month, Otter’s gardening expert Jo has plenty of tips for jobs to do in the garden as you get going on preparing your patch for the bountiful months ahead.

March hasn’t quite brought as much Spring sunshine as we’d all hoped for, so fingers crossed April will be better (despite the occasional headline threatening snow!) The soil is slowly warming up and shoots are appearing. We’re now into the month of sowing, planting and weeding. Although remember, plants are only weeds if they’re in the ‘wrong place’!

Sowing

If you enjoy growing fruit and vegetables, April is a good month to start sowing a wide variety of crops, from spinach, leeks, peas, broad beans, carrots, beetroot and artichokes to Brussels sprouts, as well as raspberry and blackberry canes. But keep tender young plants such as melon and sweetcorn under cover for the time being.

You can start off annuals like cosmos, marigolds, zinnias, nigella and Californian poppies. You could choose to sow the seeds directly into your borders; ideally you will have prepared these already but if not, clear the weeds, dig through and rake first. Also sow some of these seeds indoors in containers, so if you don’t have success with those in the borders for any reason, you can transplant more mature plants.

Planting

Plant out any hardy annuals that you grew inside in February. Top tip, do this before sowing annual seeds into the borders, so you know where you have gaps to fill.

Make a patch for a new herb garden if you don’t have one already. Home grown herbs are perfect to add to pizzas, adding lots of fresh zingy taste. Check out our Grow Your Own Pizza Topping campaign by clicking HERE. For your new patch, choose free draining soil with full or partial sun. You can plant out lavender, rosemary, mint, thyme straight away – but wait to plant tender basil and coriander outside until the risk of frost has passed.

Also great for pizzas are fresh tomatoes! We have lots of varieties of tomato plants in stock from globe, plum and beefsteak to sweet cherry, so come and take your pick. These will also need to be kept indoors until there’s no chance of frost.

Plant sunflower seeds and keep these inside on a sunny windowsill or in the greenhouse ready to plant out later. These are such a great way to get children or grandchildren involved with growing – you can have a little competition to see whose sunflower grows the tallest.

While most fruit ripens later in the year, now is the right time of year to plant young fruit trees such as apple and pear. Don’t plant any later than April as the trees do best when the soil is still fairly dormant.

Spuds update! You can plant second earlies and main crop potatoes this month – some gardeners prefer to wait for the full moon during Easter because the water table is higher then.

Pests and weeding

Regularly inspect garden plants for pests such as ‘leaf miners’ which is a generic name for the larvae of moths, flies and beetles. They’re relatively harmless so can be left untreated unless you have a severe infestation. Most pests at this stage of the gardening year won’t cause huge issues, although be vigilant at spotting slugs and snails intent on enjoying young plants!

Weeds now start to appear in greater numbers in beds and borders. You can control them using a hoe or other tool to dig them up, remembering not to leave any of the roots. If you do, many will just grow up again. Once you’re satisfied you can apply a layer of mulch or homemade garden compost over the surface as a barrier to new weeds. This also locks in moisture and improves the soil. Our garden compost blog has lots of tips to help you reduce waste in the garden and home in an environmentally friendly way. Read more about it HERE.

Lawncare

Start regular cutting now, keeping on a higher setting when grass has got long or is still damp. Perhaps think about leaving a section of your garden unmown this year and see what comes up in terms of wild flowers and grasses. This is a great way to support garden wildlife.

Repair any bare patches on your lawn. Prepare the ground first to make sure it is level and firm. If you’re laying turf, leave this undisturbed until it is well established.

Give your lawn a Spring boost by applying a lawn feed and tidy the edges to keep it looking at its best.

More tips available in our lawn care calendar!

General tips

Tidy up and refresh containers, removing any dead winter plants and adding early summer bedding. Keep these somewhere frost free, so that they can fill out ready for May.
Add spring flowering hanging baskets to your garden for a little more colour. You can make these up yourself or treat yourself to a ready-made Otter basket!
Support herbaceous plants as they burst into life with new growth. This will help to prevent any plant damage as they grow. Tie in climbers too, while you can easily get to the supports.
Add new bird feeders to your garden now. It can take several weeks for birds to become familiar with this new source of food, so by May you’ll have lots of bird spotting to do.
Protect fruit blossom from late frosts and always keep some protective fleece handy just in case!

Enjoy Easter and spending time with your family, lets hope for lots of lovely sunshine just in time for your Easter Egg hunts.

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April Gardening Tips from Jo

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