Flowers, Lawn Care and Decorative Stone - Your April Gardening Tips
By Alicia Paaso - Gardenscape Sales Team/RHS Level 3 Horticulturalist
April marks the height of spring, a month that offers plenty of exciting tasks in the garden. Early spring flowers like daffodils are currently being replaced by the vibrant blooms of tulips, bluebells and camellias. The arrival of warmer days finally makes outdoor seeding a possibility, which allows gardeners to get their hands back into the soil. Now is also the ideal time to focus on essential tasks that can easily be forgotten once the busy growing season starts.
This month provides the perfect conditions to start sowing hardy annuals and wildflower seeds directly outdoors. Sowing a wildflower patch is an easy and rewarding task that brings beautiful blooms to the garden while attracting vital pollinators. When choosing a wildflower seed blend, it is important to consider your site’s specific conditions, as well as the flower-to-grass ratio you’d like to achieve. It’s also worth deciding if you want to focus on annual or perennial wildflower blends, though many choose a mix of both for gorgeous blooms in the year of sowing and long-term perennials for the following year. To prepare the area, start by removing any weeds and then add a low-fertility soil like our TS5, which prevents competition from grasses and weeds and allows your wildflowers to thrive. We can supply both wildflower seed and turf, so please contact the sales team with any enquiries.
In line with everything else this season, the grass has begun to grow rapidly. Thanks to the sunny days we’ve had, the ground has had time to dry, creating the perfect conditions for your spring lawn renovations. If you are turfing or grass seeding, it’s worth investing in a quality topsoil like our TS6 to ensure good establishment. Bare patches can also be reseeded by raking the area and spreading grass seed on top. Topdressing your lawn in April is a worthwhile task to improve drainage, promote healthy root growth, and level the surface. Rootzone is a great option for general topdressing, while our Fine Turf Dressing is a better alternative if you are hollow tining or using a spreader, as it helps avoid clogging.
April is perfect for getting all aspects of your garden ready while you still have time to do so. It’s a good idea to inspect your hanging baskets and containers now, before you need to plant your displays in May. Make sure that they are in good condition and see whether they need a thorough clean or replacing.
If you haven’t already, it’s the last chance to give your greenhouse a proper clean. Use some warm, soapy water and a soft sponge to remove dirt from the glass to optimise light availability, which is great for plants like tomatoes that need plenty of sunlight. If you have time, it’s also worth disinfecting the greenhouse and its surfaces to remove any pests or diseases that may be present from last year.
Finally, now is a great time to replenish any decorative stone and shingle in your garden! Keeping gravel at a depth of at least 50 mm will act as a mulch to prevent weed seeds from germinating. If you’re starting a new area, it’s beneficial to put down some heavy-duty Groundtex membrane to keep weeds at bay. Additionally, cockleshells and horticultural grit can be beneficial to use around plants like hostas that are susceptible to slug damage, as the sharp edges help repel them.
Happy April gardening!