One of the biggest garden maintenance jobs in April is your lawn.  They are beginning to stir after the winter rest, and so are the dandelions and daisies!  We all feel differently about those.  I love to see the daisies but loathe the dandelions!

Established lawns should be mown, but set the blades fairly high for the first few cuts.  Newly sown lawns, or recently turfed areas should be left well alone until the grass is a good 7 cms long.  A spring feed and weed treatment is a good idea too.  Before you do that get out the scarifying rake and go over the whole lawn thoroughly to get rid of any loose moss and thatch that has developed.  It will look horrid for a few days but the hard work will pay off very quickly.

If you have any serious lumps, bumps and holes in the Lawn now is a good time to carefully peel back the turf and level up the soil underneath.  Remember to allow plenty if you are filling a hole as it will tread down.

Garden Ponds also start crying out for attention now as well.  It is probably time to start feeding your fish if you haven’t already.  Taking early preventative action in the war against algae never goes amiss.  I like to use Barley Straw Pads and they work well.

Take a good look at your pond plants too, splitting waterlilies before they really get going again or they are unmanageable.  Other perennial pond plants can be cut back or divided now.  I always take this opportunity to make sure that the pond is still easily accessible for birds and other wildlife by softening the sides to provide easy access.  Check all the material you have round the edge of the pond before everything starts growing so that you know you have firm footing if you have to do maintenance work on the pond later in the summer when it’s not so easy to see through the foliage.

These are probably two of my favorite garden maintenance jobs for this time of year as you can really see where you have been and the garden starts to look loved and cared for.

Garden Maintenance In April – 3 is a post from: The Garden Magazine

Garden Maintenance in April is all about clearing up the debris of the winter and getting ready for the Summer with lots of sowings and plantings.  It’s still too early to rule out any frosts as they can catch you unawares at this time of year, especially if you have had a few warm days as we have in the last week.  We spent the weekend clearing and cleaning up our vegetable beds but it is time to start looking at the more decorative aspects of the garden as well.

When Spring comes you can see that there are a lot of hidden corners which hold dead leaves and the shoots of weeds nestling underneath them.  You need to be really vigilant about getting all the rubbish out and clearing away those unwanted plants before they have time to flower and seed.  Somehow they always seem to be ahead of everything else and to survive those sharp frosts.  On of the most important garden maintenance jobs is just to get out there with a rake, shovel and broom to gather up all the loose bits and pieces so you can see what needs doing.

A good session weeding borders and patio pots will never go amiss in April.  You can generally  spot what needs repotting into a larger home, or what needs feeding and a bit of tlc.  Whilst it might not be technically the right time for pruning, there are few plants that don’t benefit from a tidy up after the winter.  You can see what has been damaged and remove it before it does active harm to the plant.  We have had a very severe winter this year and lots of things needed a bit of grooming to help them along.

Deadheading Daffodils, Tulips, Hyacinths and other flowering bulbs needs to be done, but leave the foliage to help the bulb for next year.  I like to just firm them in a little as well if the soil has moved away from the stems as a result of weather.  Pansies and other winter flowering bedding need tidying up too.

If you have herbacious perennials that need splitting now is the time to do it.  A herbacious perennial is a plant that has soft green stems and that usually dies back in the winter – but they come back stronger than ever in the spring.  Penstemons and Hostas are among my favorites.

If you live in a mild or sheltered are, you can start to sow annuals outdoors, or into trays for summer bedding plants.  Petunias, Lobelia, Nasturtiums can go into seed trays indoors now.  My favorite of all, Sweet Peas can be sown outdoors now, do make sure you have adequate support for them as they grow so quickly.  Whilst you are in the planting mode, and there are some open areas of soil, it is a good time to plant summer bulbs as well.

Garden Maintenance in April – 2 is a post from: The Garden Magazine

April is definitely a month to be doing things with your Fruit and Vegetables.  We have had some very sharp frosts still so you need to protect the blossom of your stoned fruit trees such as Apricots, Peaches and Nectarines.  Whilst on the subject of fruit trees don’t forget to prune your Cherry and Plum trees once the leaf buds have cracked open.

You can start planting your Potatoes – remembering again to protect any early shoots from frost.  If you didn’t plant Asparagus last month that can go in along with root crops like Carrots, Turnips and Kohlrabi.  Salad crops such as  Spring Onions, Swiss Chard, Lettuce as well as Brassicas can be started now too.  I like to get some herbs such as Basil and Chives going to.  You will need to protect early sowings with fleece and/or polythene if you are still getting frosts.

In the greenhouse I am busy with Peppers, Aubergines (one of my favourites!) and Cucumbers – potting on your Tomatoes can be done as well.   I’m just beginning to increase the amount of ventilation in the greenhouse now that the days are warmer but do remember to close up at night or you could lose a lot.  I shall be doing some softwood cuttings from my beloved Fuschias as well as repotting and feeding some of the house plants.  My Orchids are doing particularly well at the moment and I am extremely pleased with the way they are responding to almost total neglect!

Garden Maintenance in April – 1 is a post from: The Garden Magazine

The last few garden maintenance jobs that must be done in March are fairly obvious but bear mentioning none the less. Lawns need to be looked at as they are starting to grow again and time can usefully be spent raking to remove thatch and moss before starting to mow. When you do start to mow, make sure the blades are set quite high for the first few cuts and rake off any cuttings if you don’t catch them in a box or bag on your mower. You should also look to see if any areas need some care by way of reseeding or turfing and prepare the ground accordingly.

It’s a good time to check over your Pond as well, check over all the pond ‘electricals’ like pumps, lighting systems and filters. Give any other water features a quick check too. I generally put some barley straw pads on the top of my pond at this time as well just to prevent any algae getting hold in the spring sunshine.

Just as a word to the wise, it’s a good time to clean your patios and paved areas. My husband nearly took a tumble yesterday when going to fill up the bird feeders. Some of the paving stones had developed quite a slippery surface and had become dangerous.

If it’s too cold to be outside there are jobs to be done indoors or in the Greenhouse. Some houseplants might need to be repotted. Overwintered plants such as pelargoniums, fuschias and other tender perennials will need to be cut back and it’s a good time to plant your begonia tubers in pots. Don’t forget that March sun can sometimes be very warm in the greenhouse and you may need some ventilation but do remember to close up at night as it is still very cold.

Garden Maintenance in March – 4 is a post from: The Garden Magazine

Nasty Pests and Diseases can start to rear their ugly heads in March and it is a wise gardener who is vigilant at this time of year and builds this into her garden maintenance schedule. You need to keep the garden tidy and start removing all the rubbish that has accumulated over the winter to stop diseases developing unseen. Dead leaves should be removed from perennials as part of your regular maintenance. When you are inspecting your plants and seedlings watch out for any symptoms of damping off as well. The temperature variations at this time of year can have a dramatic effect on how things develop.

This is the time of year when those dratted slugs and snails start to appear as well. I am plagued by slugs in my garden and I have to keep a constant watch. One of the most successful ways I have found of protecting my Hostas, which are particularly susceptible, is to put a mulch of Pistachio Nut Shells around them. Believe me, slugs and snails don’t get past that! You should also be watching out for aphids, which start to make their appearance with the Spring sunshine.

If you grow stoned fruits, such as Peaches and Nectarines make sure you keep them protected from March winds to prevent Peach Leaf Curl. Whilst in the fruit garden you should also be spraying for Gooseberry mildew and pear scab.

On a more pleasant front this is a good time to sow a wildflower ‘meadow’ even if only a small one, for all the butterflies and other beneficial insects it will attract. You should see a hungry Ladybird making a meal of aphids! As I said before it’s also the time to think about Nest Boxes for the birds and do make sure you keep your Bird Bath and ponds topped up. I had a wonderful ‘Tea Break’ this morning watching two Blackbirds having a bath in my pond. We have an area where the birds can easily get down to the water on some flat stones and these two were having such fun – it was a joy to watch and they pirouetted and preened. Maybe if I’m lucky they will nest in the garden and that will put paid to a few slugs as well! Watching things like that makes all the effort of garden maintenance well worth it!

Garden Maintenance in March – 3 is a post from: The Garden Magazine

Continuing our garden maintenance theme now that Spring is in the air and the garden is crying out for colour, it’s time to turn your attention to ensuring that you get  your hardy annuals going by sowing them either in pots, trays or modules.  Sweet Peas can be started off too, I generally nick the seed coating to give them a start or soak them for a few hours to soften that hard outer shell.  Whilst you are busy sowing you should also start off your Summer bedding plants if you are intending to grow them from seed.  If you are going to sow in the early part of March then put them in a heated propagator or sow under glass to give them some protection from the frosts you can still get – we had an incredibly hard frost yesterday morning.

It also time to topdress your containers with some fresh compost and maybe put some fertilisers on the bulbs that are beginning to peep through now.  I also like to try and get a mulch onto some of the borders before the weeds start springing up.  I shall be using some of the material that we shredded last year when chopping down some trees, it has broken down quite well and is ready for use now.

Talking of trees it’s time to check any shrubs and trees planted last autumn and firm them in.  It’s also time for one of my favourite jobs – pruning.  I’m a great believer in hard pruning to get a plant to be the way you want it to be.  My definition of a weed is any plant that isn’t where you want it or doesn’t do what you want so I wield the secateurs with some ferocity.  At this time of year I will be looking over my summer flowering shrubs and late flowering clematis amongst other things such as climbers which have run riot over the year.  I won’t be touching my spring flowering shrubs til after they have finished flowering but they too will get a serious hair cut in due course.

I’m not a great fan of evergreens and conifers but if you do have them in your garden this is the time when you should look to move any that need a change of scenery as part of your garden maintenance plan.

Garden Maintenance in March – 2 is a post from: The Garden Magazine

Autumn and Winter are  generally considered the best time of year to move your garden plants but in truth, it can be done at almost any time providing adequate precautions are taken. Personally I move a lot of my plants in the early Spring after Winter has taken its toll.

When moving a smaller plant – under a metre high you should first remove any dead material and trim the plant to about two thirds of its size. Digging out the rootball is the next step making sure that you take a reasonably large amount, around the same diameter as the plant is good. A large enough hole should be dug and the plant will generally benefit if you backafill with some compost.

Any plant up to about two metres should be loosened a few days before you remove it, digging a hole at least 30 cms deep and long or damaged roots should be trimmed off before replanting. Bigger plants and trees need further preparation still, you should dig out around two sides to a reasonable depth then let the plant stand for a week, then trim it back by about one third before digging around the other sides then leave it again for a week or so, patience is required! When you remove the plant wrap the rootball to protect it.

The new hole should be bigger than the rootball and again you should backfill and possibly add some feed. Once the plant is in place, firm it in carefully and keep an eye on it for a week or two. All plants should be well watered in when moved.

Moving A Plant in Your Garden is a post from: The Garden Magazine