Spring into action

Spring is a key time for all kinds of crucial garden jobs like pruning and preventative slug measures, says Toby

NEVER mind April showers – with so many gardening possibilities and so few hours in the day, April FOMO (fear of missing out) is my main concern! That’s why I prioritise the gardening jobs that make the biggest difference, and leave the rest to mañana.

Sowing seeds is top of my list of April jobs. However, these new plants would soon come to a chewed and sticky end if I didn’t reduce the resident slug and snail population at the same time.

When I first started gardening, molluscs were given no quarter. The aim was to poison, squash or throw them all over the garden fence. But the thinking has changed – not only is slug and snail extermination impossible (as neighbours throw them back), but it’s also undesirable.

Slugs and snails are part of the food chain, and without them predatory birds, frogs and ground beetle numbers plummet. And once they’re out of the picture, mollusc numbers spiral out of control.

The trick is to be strategic and protect vulnerable plants such as seedlings and tender veg, and let bigger established plants look after themselves. Beer traps (see below) are my go-to method on the veg plot. But should slugs and snails be a problem elsewhere, I scatter organic pellets around vulnerable plants, and under pots or flat stones in the borders, where molluscs hole up during the day. In the dry, the pellets last longer, and slugs and snails are more likely to meet them – and their maker.

Another important April job is pruning winter-flowering honeysuckle and viburnum, so they have time to reboot with fresh blooms for next year. Don’t forget to ‘harden off’ greenhouse/

windowsill-raised plants (and tender acquisitions) before planting in the garden. The traditional way of doing this is putting the plants outside during the day and bringing them undercover at night. However, if the weather’s mild, I muster them in a sheltered spot by the back door for a week to a fortnight, and they do just fine.

Hardening off is worth the effort. As well as toughening up plants for life outside, it also makes them less of a magnet for molluscs!

“The trick is to be strategic”

Sowing is a top job, but do take steps so tender annuals like cosmos don’t succumb to slugs and snails Scatter organic slug pellets around vulnerable plants, but let established plants take care of themselves Pruning honeysuckle such as Lonicera x purpusii ‘Winter Beauty’ after flowering is a big April job