April

Written by Shauna Daly MVB.

April is a busy month, the soil is warming up and the days are stretching out. It is time to get stuck into your vegetable garden and growing flowers for the summer too.

The seeds that you have already started can be ‘potted on’, moving them to bigger pots to accommodate their growth. It is still too early in most places to put these plants outside. However, towards the end of the month, they can be ‘hardened off’, which means placing them outside during the day and inside at night to get them used to the drop in temperature. They can be then planted out after your last frost date.

This is the month to sow your big, fast growing seeds, like sunflowers, cosmos, cabbage, courgette, cucumber and squash. You can also sow the seeds mentioned in our March article - it is not too late yet.

Dahlia tubers can be sown outside now. Choose a single flowering variety so pollinators can benefit from the blooms. Other summer flowering bulbs, such as gladioli and agapanthus can be sown now too.

Other gardeners may advise mowing and fertilising your lawn now. However, if you would like to provide a habitat and food for wildlife, this is not recommended. Try to mow as infrequently as possible, allowing longer grass and flowers to flourish. Fertiliser will strengthen grass growth, preventing wildflowers from getting a hold. Instead, relax and do less. Don’t forget to remove grass clippings when you do mow and compost them, preventing them from fertilising the lawn.

Main crop potatoes can be sown in the second half of April. These will be harvested in Autumn. Choose varieties like Cara, which is blight resistant.

Other jobs include turning your compost and getting the soil ready for planting vegetables- adding some compost or old farm yard manure can aid fertility and help growth.