Feed shrubs
As the soil warms up and everything starts growing in earnest, April is a good time, to give garden shrubs a feed just as the growing season is starting. Sprinkle a general fertiliser around the base of all the shrubs and plants. Suitable fertilisers would be blood fish and bone, Growmore, Chicken Manure and slow release pellets.
Handle with gloves and don’t do on a windy day unless you want to sprinkle yourself with blood fish and bone. Dig in gently just under the surface and if rain is not imminent water in as well.
Some shrubs such as Camellias, Rhododendron, Magnolia will benefit from specialist ericaceous feed and for Roses a specialist rose feed is best.
Pruning in April
Early to mid spring, which covers April is a suitable time to prune Hydrangea Macrophylla the common Hydrangea often pink or blue, but also white. If it is an established Hydrangea prune down to a bud or pair of buds and cut out about a third or a quarter of the older, more woody growth each year to make for new growth. If the Hydrangea is newly planted just prune down to a bud until the plant is more established with plenty of growth.
It’s a good idea not to prune anything during severe weather and this can delay pruning if spring is very poor. In which case in April you can still prune Cornus which to maintain strong red colour for the winter is cut down to within a few buds to the base.
Growing Sweet Peas
March or April are suitable times to sow, and in late April early May, plant out sweet peas. They look fab in the border climbing up an obelisk or suitable support and add colour and height. Sweet peas like moisture and a tip is to line the trench with newspaper to aid moisture retention. If sweet peas get too dry they are prone to mildew.
Generally, even thought quite hardy, Sweet peas need to be hardened off before planting outside which means acclimatising the plants to the outside conditions. Put plants outside on warm days increasing the time until ready to plant out.
If you are growing from seed or buy as small plants a good tip is to pinch out the growth point, the tip, which will make the plant shoot sideways which will prevent it getting leggy and make a bushier plant.
Toilet roll holders are ideal for growing all types of peas and beans to give a long root run. You will see when you come to plant them out the roots are full down to the bottom of the tube and often curled around.
Start off wildflowers
A wildflower patch creates a real splash of colour and you don’t need lots of room and time.
There is an easy way to create a wild flower patch by using a pre seeded roll which is quick, easy and foolproof. If the idea of having a wildflower patch appeals but it always seems much too much like hard work when seen on TV/mags, try this easy way – for detailed step by step growing guide follow the link to wildflowers
Whether using a pre seeded roll or seed, the area needs to be free from weed and the soil warm enough for germination.
Caring for Hellebores
Hellebores are starting to fade and go over during April, depending on how they look, this is time to cut down the stems. The new growth can be seen at the base of the plant and care is needed to ensure this is not snipped instead.
The taller Hellebores, argutifloius – the Corsican hellebores, is prone to flop all over the place by this stage and is hard to stake. It is best chopped taking off the flower and stalks down to the ground although the other Hellebores can be left alone.
Growing annuals
There is still plenty of time to sow annuals to add to the colour of the borders and many are very easy to grow. The advantage of sowing annuals is that you can buy a wide range of seed and grow plants you rarely see in the garden centre..
Amaranthus caudatus (Love lies bleeding) is another exotic looking annual which is easy to grow from seed. Both need warmth to germinate and to grow on in frost free environment and delay planting out until they are good-sized study plants.
Buy bedding plants
If you have a greenhouse or frost free area you can save money buying bedding plants in April taking advantage of the gardening offers and grow them on under glass. Sowing from seed can be time consuming and tricky and on the web, and garden centres have a great choice of plug plants both for bedding and vegetables.
This time of year you can buy the small plants more cheaply and grow them until ready to plant out. These small plants need a frost free environment, as much all round light as you can achieve, (greenhouse, conservatory, window sill or porch,) and care with watering. As the plants increase in size water more but start sparingly.
When the plugs arrive they can be very tiny and in small thumb size pot. Plug plants need potting on but take care to move them just up one stage in pot size. If you put a small plug plant into a large pot it will not thrive. The new pot needs to be just a few centimetres bigger and you may even have to pot on twice is you buy very small plants.
If you are intending eventually to plant the plugs in containers, when the plants are more established it’s a good idea to plant the container and grow on in the greenhouse until ready to plant out. This will help the plants become more mature and established in the container before placing outside and produce more flowers.
When is the time to plant out? Best rule of thumb is when risk of frosts has passed, which tends to be to-wards the end of May. You can plant out before then but keep an eye on the weather and if frost is forecast you will need to protect with a cloche or fleece.
A good tip when growing bedding plants is to nip out the growing points to produce a bushier plant otherwise some plants, particularly petunia, fuchsia, verbena will grow leggy later in the season.
Stake Perennials
Many Perennials will need staking support for the summer and April is the time to start staking Perennials especially the early flowering ones, such as Peonies. If staking is left too late it can be difficult to place the stakes on, over, or around the plant without damaging the emerging plants. I always leave it too late and find myself in May with lots of top growth which I have to try and thread into a suitable stake and there is a real risk of damaging the plant.
Harden off plants
Plants grown in protected conditions, newly purchased from the garden centre or grown in a greenhouse frost and wind free, do not do well if they are planted outside in the garden or veg plot without a period to “harden off”, which means getting the plant acclimatised to the weather. On mild days in April, put the trays of bedding plants and tender veggies outside and bring back in at night under shelter or glass. Over a period of time gradually extend the time outside until eventually the plants are only inside /or covered, in the event of frost.
(information care of www.sundaygardener.co.uk).