April Gardening Tips 2025
How lovely that March has bestowed on us some pretty good spring weather and we head into April with fresh colour all around and so much more to come.
If you are after a taste of the exotic please join us at Shepperton on Saturday 12 April for the spring orchid show of the Orchid Society of Great Britain. The show will be open from 9.30am to 4.30pm. This is a real treat because it is the opportunity to see some unique and special varieties. It is amazing how orchids vary from the delicate and diminutive to the truly spectacular. I am really looking forward to the event. It was certainly a wonderful show last year and I am sure it will be again.
Focussing on garden plants, Aubretia and Saxifrage and a host of Alpine plants are all ready to flower their delicate socks off and there are shrubs bursting with bud such as Forsythia, Ribes and Chaenomeles. Just remember to give those shrubs a haircut after flowering because they will flower next year on wood that grows this coming summer, so a tidy up after flowering will keep them in their place without compromising on flower next year. Spring flowering bulbs are at their peak. Deadhead those that have finished flowering but leave the foliage to die back naturally. Don’t forget some summer flowering bulbs and corms to fill in gaps or add a burst of colour to containers. Try some lilies for scent, Agapanthus for drama and Gladioli and Begonias for some retro style. Don’t forget reliable Dahlias which will give you reliable high summer colour and flower into the autumn.
Spring is second only to autumn as a great time to plant everything from shrubs and trees to climbers and perennials. The secret to success is good preparation. Dig a good-sized hole to accommodate your plant. Add some fertiliser and compost to the bottom of the planting hole. I also add some Root Grow (mycorrhizal funghi) at home because I find it helps plants to establish really well, especially roses. Place your plant in the hole. Back fill with some more compost and garden soil, firm lightly and water in well. It is important to keep newly planted subjects well-watered throughout the first growing season, and beyond if the weather is dry.
At home we are busy mulching our borders with homemade compost, but well-rotted manure or bark will do just as well to help with weed control and water retention. It is amazing how much better the borders will look for it immediately and your plants benefit over the summer too.
But I did promise a few words about lawns this month. Last year both spring and autumn were pretty damp and, particularly in the case of spring 2024, chilly so there was very little encouragement to look after our lawns. As a result of the weather moss has definitely become more noticeable in our lawn and it needs some TLC. The good news is that is doesn’t have to be difficult and it will yield results. The first task is to clear winter debris and give the grass a good rake. This will ‘scarify’ the lawn and remove dead grass, smaller twigs and general detritus. Where the lawn has become compacted, aerate with a hollow tine fork or aerator. This allows air and water to penetrate to the roots. You can also apply a lawn fertiliser to give the grass a real boost and help it withstand all the use it will get over the summer and any potential dry spells. Miracle Gro Complete works well. For the first few cuts of the year keep the mower blades quite high. This is also an ideal month to sow a new lawn or to re-seed areas that have become worn.
I am sometimes asked what vegetables I recommend growing. My response is always the same. Grow vegetables you really like to eat and then add in something new for a change to broaden your gardening and culinary horizons. This is a great time to sow vegetable seed in succession for the longest possible cropping season, especially beans, salad crops and peas. Sow under cover and plant out a little later on to avoid frost damage. Sow tomatoes in pots in the greenhouse or on a windowsill. Or you can buy young plants and again plant them out a little later after the frosts have gone. There is still time to plant potatoes. Earth them up as soon as the shoots emerge. This helps the tubers to form deep enough that they don’t turn green. My tip for the easiest vegetable to grow has to be courgettes.
Enjoy the colour, the fragrance and the birdsong of April.
