Gardening by Month - April
Spring is finally here! After a long, dull winter we can think about enjoying the garden and look forward to longer, brighter days ahead. Let’s hope for a warm spring so we can spend time in the garden.
The growing season is underway, so dodge any showers and get busy. If you haven’t ventured into the garden much this year, take some time to clear any fallen branches and leaves. It’s lovely to see new life bursting through when you clear the borders.
It’s prime time for planting, and Garsons is full of inspiration for the gardening season ahead. You can’t beat flowering shrubs and now is a great time to get them established before the heat of summer.
The lavender is a timeless and low maintenance favourite for beautiful colour, and bees love it. Two good English varieties are Lavender Hidcote and Munstead. Hidcote does well in our climate and remains compact. It’s a bushy dwarf evergreen shrub with small deep violet-purple flowers.
Plant sweet peas to give height and colour to your summer flower garden. Position them for sunshine and give them a structure to wind their way up – perhaps an obelisk from the Garden Centre, or make your own wigwam of bamboo canes.
Summer bulbs such as alliums and agapanthus can be planted now the soil is starting to warm up. Bulbs can also be planted in containers, to brighten up your patio.
Sprinkle rose feed around the base of your existing rose plants. If your roses suffered last year from discoloured leaves and poor blooms that didn’t last long, they will benefit from a nutrient boost. A layer of mulch around your roses will improve the soil and keep it moist.
Until next month, enjoy your spring garden!
