Mzzz B's April Garden Blog

Perennial Honesty( there maybe seedlings available at the Garden Society Plant Sale May 13th!)

Tulips after the rain!

Rhododendron: Taurus

Erythronium or dog’s tooth violet.

Weed, weed and weed! that is all I seem to have done over the past couple of weeks. It is now the perennial weeds, like bindweed and couch/twitch grass start to show themselves and a good time to dig out as much as possible. However I have also been enjoying the explosion of colourful flowers all around the garden- see Photos.

I have also been moving perennial plants that  now seem to be in the wrong place, and the odd self sown beauty that needs to have more space.

It's a busy time of the year, but the weather is still fickle and the soil has not really started to warm up yet. If you can't wait , then try warming the soil by covering it with black plastic or even old carpet or a cloche if you have one. In a couple of weeks the soil should have warmed up and most chances of frost should have gone. However I do remember a nasty frost two years ago in May which caught us all unaware, and I didn't get any apples or pears as the frost got the blossom. With our weather being more unpredictable it pays to arm yourself with some horticultural fleece or cloches to put over tender plants when frost is forecast.

Things to do in April: or when you can dodge the rain!

• Sow hardy annuals, such as love-in-a-mist and pot marigolds, as well as native wildflowers, into gaps in borders
• Protect the new shoots of delphiniums, hostas and other vulnerable plants like new seedlings from slugs and snails. Try using slug pellets that are marked as suitable for organic gardening then it will not harm useful insects in the garden.
• Continue deadheading spring bulbs and bedding, so they don't waste energy setting seed. Dig up and divide snowdrops to spread the, but do not let the bulbs dry out.
• Transplant sweet peas sown in pots into their final positions when the weather warms a little
• Prune hydrangeas, cutting back the old stems to a healthy shoot lower down, but check what sort of hydrangea you are growing – the mop heads and lacecaps- cut back to a healthy bud , and just take out weak or diseased shoots down to the base. These flower on old wood stems. Paniculata hydrangeas, can be cut down to 6 inches or so to a bud and will flower on the new growth of wood
• Reinvigorate mature clumps of hardy perennials, such as hostas, asters and daylilies, by dividing and replanting
• Check for aphids on roses and rub them off before they develop into major infestations
• Add aquatic plants, such as waterlilies and irises, to garden ponds
• if you haven't already done so, get those second early and maincrop potatoes planted.
• Sow outdoor varieties of tomatoes, chillies and courgettes in pots, so they're ready to plant out in late May or June
• Divide clumps of hardy herbs, such as lemon balm and chives, then replant in pots, borders or a dedicated herb bed
• Sow small batches of rocket and other easy salad leaves
• Sow flowering companions in the veg plot, such as pot marigolds and borage These are meant to keep the bugs away from your veg.
• Sow herbs such as parsley, coriander, dill and chamomile in a sunny bed or containers.
• Sow fast-growing crops, such as radishes, to make the most of any temporary gap.

Welovetattenhall