April 2025

JOBS IN THE GARDEN FOR APRIL

Flowers:

 Sweet Peas can be sown now directly where they are to flower. These will

give you a much later crop of flowers after those which were sown under glass earlier

have finished.

Plant summer flowering bulbs, corms and tubers directly into the ground now for

flowering this summer.

Now is an ideal time to prune Spring flowering shrubs such as Forsythia, Abelia or

Chaenomeles as they finish their display.

Feed Roses now to induce a larger crop of flowers this year. Use a balanced general

fertilizer such as Vitax Q4 or a specific rose fertilizer in powder or granular form.

Shrubs and Trees Continue to plant evergreen trees, shrubs and hedges.

Also, now is a good time to transplant evergreen shrubs but make sure you water in

well. A number of evergreen shrubs have suffered badly after the winter storms,

particularly near the coast, by salt scorch. Now is a good time to trim back the

damaged stems.

Vegetables and Fruit :

Continue to direct sow vegetables such as Beetroot, Carrots,

Lettuce, Turnips ,Radish and Peas.

At the end of the month Runner and French Beans can also be sown directly outside

especially if the weather is on the warm side.

Continue to plant Potatoes and complete the planting of Onion sets as a matter of

urgency.

Cherries, Plums and other stone fruits can be pruned now as the young shoots appear.

This will avoid the problem of silver leaf disease and other fungal problems.

Pests and Diseases :

Look out for early Aphid attack. Prompt action helps to reduce

numbers and colonies establishing.

From the end of the month watch out for caterpillar-like larvae of the Gooseberry

sawfly which can very quickly defoliate Gooseberries, Red currants and White

currants.

Lawns:

 Before sowing new lawns eliminate perennial weeds. Where weeds and

moss is a problem on established lawns apply a combined lawn feed weed and

mosskiller.

Patches of yellow or dying grass with white or pink cotton-like fungal growth in wet

conditions will indicate fusarium patch disease, also known as snow mould..