Tips for gardening in April

Gardening in Spring

Spring is properly here, with longer days and milder weather, and it's the perfect time to get going in your garden! This is a good time to do the first cut on your lawn. Why not try something different this year, and set your mower blade higher? It should mean you have to cut your lawn slightly less often for a start, and your lawn won't look quite as pristine because you may find clover starting to spread. Clover is brilliant for bees though and is just as nice to walk on as grass. You are also less likely to have moss growing in your lawn as the taller grass shades it out.

Bedding Plants

There is still a risk of frost until well into May, so stick to frost hardy bedding plants like pansies, violas and carnations, that will add a lovely splash of colour to your garden. They work as well in pots as in your flower beds, or even as hanging baskets.

Pot of the month

Sometimes, simplicity is the best, and planting one plant in a pot can be really striking. For some lovely seasonal colour, why not try planting a senetti – they give you a fantastic burst of colour. To make sure you get the best value of them, pinch off the flowers once they are done, as that sends a signal to the plant that it has to make more flowers!

Perennials and Shrubs A fantastic addition to your garden is a perennial wallflower, (Erysimum) of which ‘Bowles's Mauve' is one of the best known. This is an easy to grow plant that is nearly always in flower, and bees love it, so what's not to like about it. It's one of those banker plants that you can build your garden around, and you can get them in a range of colours too. Fleabane (Erigeron glaucus ‘Sea Breeze') also fits in to the ‘must-have perennial category' for your garden as well, it's evergreen and flowers all summer. It likes a sunny spot. Other plants to get in at this time of the year include phormiums (for height) and heucheras, whose colourful leaves in a variety of colours brighten up your garden in groups of 3-5.

Fruit and vegetables

Here are some ideas of what to plant in April: Strawberries – They grow better at this time of year under cover, and work well in pots or in the ground.

Lettuce – they only take about six weeks from planting seedlings – you could do them in a hanging basket too if you wanted to be fancy!