Jobs to do
April is a lovely month in the garden whether you are working in it or
just wandering around enjoying the fresh beauty of spring flowers, or
relishing the picking and eating the first crisp vegetable crops,
particularly lettuces, lambs lettuce, baby French breakfast radishes, and
the thinnings of Swiss chard and spinach.
Whenever you have a bit of spare time spend some of it hoeing off the
weeds in beds, borders and the vegetable patch which will be growing like
mad. It is worth while sharpening the hoe with a file or carborundum
sharpening stone to make the job easier.
Repair damage to lawns by sowing bald areas or patching them with
turf. Rebuild broken lawn edges. Lay new turf lawns and paths. Mow when
necessary, but not too close. Below half an inch can lead to scalping and
more bare areas.
Prune hybrid tea and multiflora roses down to eight to twelve inches
from the ground. Do not worry if you are cutting away new growth because
what is left will be stronger and produce better flowers.
Go through shrub and species (wild) roses to remove any dead,
diseased or spindly growth. Spray all roses with a fungicide to prevent black spot, mildew and
rust. Repeat the treatment if the problems appear.
Continue earthing up the first early potatoes, and planted chitted
(sprouting) second earlies.
Cut asparagus and pull rhubarb regularly to ensure a good supply.
Nip the growing points out of February sown sweet peas to encourage
strong side growths for training up canes or strings.
To ensure a crop, peaches and nectarines must be hand pollinated. A
fine spray with water during the middle of the day will help the fruit to
set.
Prune currants and gooseberries you did not get round to in the
autumn.
Train and tie in figs grown against a wall or fence, cutting out
unwanted growth.
Fruit trees showing any signs of insect damage should be sprayed
with an insecticide, but do it in the early evening when no harm will be
done to beneficial insects like bees or ladybirds.
Dead head narcissi so that energy goes into building up bulbs for next year's flowering, unless you want to save seed.
Cut plants of the so-called butterfly bush (Buddleja davidii), B.
fallowiana, B. x hybrida, and B. x weyeriana to within a foot of the
ground to stimulate new growth which will produce the best flowers.
Complete lifting and dividing herbaceous perennials, and put in
supports for the taller growing varieties.
Empty old soil and compost from all containers, including window
boxes. Thoroughly clean the containers and any drainage material before
filling with fresh mixture for the summer planting.
