April is time to get busy with growing your own
The Gardening PR digs deep into her vast gardening experience to offer regular green-fingered guidance
pril is a busy month for gardeners – there is sowing and planting to be done – and it’s time to turn your attention to long lost friends such as your vegetable patch.
It’s a key month for plantbe
Asowing, planting and harvesting. It is time to finish sowing seeds for early lettuces, summer carrots, dwarf peas, summer spinach and broad beans and start sowing beetroots, brassicas (broccoli, cauliflower, sprouts and cabbage), peas, turnips and swede
For beginners, some of the easiest fruits to grow are berries.
Strawberries and blueberries love containers or open ground and both will crop heavily once established.
A simple garden solution for April is to create your very own veg patch.
Mark out the area well, prepare the soil, dig in compost and then sow a variety of seeds that will provide you with veg all year round.
It’s a common misconception that you need a lot of space to be able to grow vegetables thrive in pots and grow bags and can also be grown in the ground.
Another plant that loves container life (and being in borders as well) is Lavender – and it’s the perfect time to plant it so that you can enjoy it throughout the summer.
It’s a favourite with gardeners not just for its beautiful form and fragrance, but also because it attracts essential pollinators such as bees and butterflies.
It’s considered a romantic flower that most gardeners get the urge to plant in their garden sooner or later and can add real value with its
To successfully grow lavender, it needs to be planted in a warm, well drained soil with full sun.
It is often planted as an edging plant with roses or grown as an informal hedge.
However, lavender does not like ‘wet feet’ as it promotes root rot and ‘dampness’ is often the reason that it doesn’t perform well.
It’s a tough plant though and once established only requires regular pruning after flowering has finished in the autumn.
April not only sees the start of National Gardening Week (April 26 to May 2) but the Royal Horticultural Society ...
Tie back climbing and rambling roses
Keep an eye out for pests and keep weeds under control
Start feeding plants in the garden from now to the end of the summer
Sow seeds directly into the soil so they can flower in the summer
Sow vegetable seeds directly into prepared beds
Plant summer flowering bulbs
Sow new lawns or repair bare patches
Prune shrubs and trees