Your Garden in April

Lawns

Whether you have got a luxurious lawn or a more tired bit of turf, chances are it could do with a bit of springtime TLC. Applying a lawn feed now, will help to green it up and give it a bit more vigour to cope better with any stresses in the coming months. You may also notice some very thin areas, or maybe even the odd bald patch and this too can be dealt with now. Just choose a small pack of grass seed or a repair kit, which matches in with the type of lawn you have and if you use it promptly, follow the pack instructions and keep the re-sown areas well-watered, the new grass seed should soon be up and filling in the gaps in just a few weeks.

Flower beds and borders make any garden look gorgeous. If you have one which is a bit lack-lustre, or you would like to create one from scratch this is a great time to add to the old or create the new. You will find a huge selection of herbaceous perennials in nurseries and garden centres now. Especially if you buy them in smaller pots, they are great value for money.

Don’t forget that that plant which may be quite small now, will grow rapidly once planted out and produce a great display this year AND for years to come. Just check labels for each plant’s basic requirements and also to see how big it will get and plan your new border. Choose plants which will do well in the spot you’re providing and check heights before you plant them out too – you don’t want the taller ones hiding the smaller ones!

Grow your own

Now is a great time to start thinking about growing your own. Many veg seeds can be sown directly into garden soil now or, some such as salad leaves, carrots and rocket will thrive in a good-sized container too. As the weather still tends to be rather up and down (and often cold at night even when day time temperatures are high), so I’d not risk planting out the most veg plants until next month. You can make a few early plantings towards the end of this month, but this is a bit risky, so if you must do it, invest in some cloches and fleece too ! So, until the main planting month, make sure you buy any seeds you’ll need and compost for containers too….and of course, take time to get your veg plot forked over and weeds, large stones and any debris removed!