Keeping spirits up in the spring sunshine

It’s a busy time in the garden just now and it provides some relief from the difficult situation we find ourselves in at present

A fter a very dry April when the garden hose was in constant use, the rains finally arrived in the last few days of the month.

We can now start to plant up our onions and other hardy fruit, flower and vegetable plants, and no doubt weeds will make a comeback.

The cool dry spell was great for weed control as very few weeds were germinating and hoeing was easy for killing them as they just shrivelled up under cloudless skies.

There is so much work to be done with seed sowing, planting and the start of the changeover as the spring flower show begins to pass over and we concentrate on the summer bedding plants, that the problems of the coronavirus can be put at the back of our minds.

Gardens and allotments are becoming places of peace where the flowers and growing crops help to keep our spirits high.

As measures are being considered for how we start the relaxation of lockdown rules and with so many people now taking to gardening, there is a great need to open up the garden centres, but with social distancing rules still in place, so folk can buy in some compost, plants, seeds and other gardening aids.

Plants brought on early from seed on my indoor windowsills have now all gone into the greenhouse and so far I have not needed to put in a heater overnight.

However, my pumpkins and courgettes are still a bit tender so they have the windowsills all to themselves. They have been sown individually in cellular trays.

The greenhouse has been a hive of activity as plants are moved out for hardening off to allow more space for other younger plants needing the room.

Sweetcorn seedlings in small cellular trays got potted up into individual pots to grow on under glass for a couple of weeks before hardening off and planting out at the end of May.

African and French marigolds, nemesia and Livingston daisies all needed pricking out but will stay under glass for a couple of weeks before hardening off once threat of frost diminishes.

Geraniums have all been outside since the beginning of April but growth has been poor as the weather has been cold all April.

Tomatoes are growing strongly under glass but so far none are flowering, so planting will be delayed till mid May.

Grape vines under glass are growing just fine. Seigerrebe and Solaris have all got plenty flowering shoots and some may need to be thinned, but Black Hamburg is surprisingly poor with many shoots without any signs of a bunch.

Outdoors the tulips and daffodils are going over, so removing the seed pods is a frequent task.

However, as one show ends the next one begins as rhododendrons and azaleas begin to flower, as well as my

With so many people now taking to gardening, there is a great need to open up the garden centres, but with social distancing

Watering the garden during April’s dry spell and, right, the first grapes starting to appear; earthing up some Casa Blanca potatoes; and grafting an apple tree. Pictures: John Stoa.