Bring some sunshine into your life and get in the garden. For those of us who have to self-isolate for the next few months, gardening can be a great escape from the surreal and uncertain world we are currently living in. There are plenty of things that you can be doing now in your garden to keep you busy and distracted.
- 1. April is warm and wet which means WEEDS! You will notice weeds popping up everywhere now, especially in open ground such as your herbaceous borders which haven’t started to grow yet or your empty pots waiting for summer bedding plants. If you keep on top of them now and remove what you can, keeping on top of them will be a much easier job throughout the summer.
- 2. Your climbers will be starting to grow and now is the best time to tie them and train the in the direction you want. Each couple of weeks, its best you tie the new shoots onto the wire, trellis or obelisk in the direction you want them to grow to maximise coverage and flower display.
- 3. Yes, it’s still rather chilly, especially at night but you can now sow mixed wildflower seeds outdoors. The seeds will stay dormant in the soil until they are ready to grow and flourish. They’re also great for the bees and butterflies. And when they have finished flowering, simply mow them or cut them back and wait until next year. The majority are annuals but if you let them go to seed, you will find they have self-seeded and will grow again next year.
- 4. As we will be spending a lot of time indoors, we have more time to tend to our houseplants. Now is the time to increase the watering. You can also give them a little feed giving them a pick me up after winter and give them the best start possible.
- 5. Established shrub and rose beds will be starved of nutrients after the long and wet winter. Now is a great time to add a mulch or fertiliser to the beds. Organic manure or well-rotted compost from your own compost heap will be perfect.
- 6. Now is a good time to divide things such as bamboo and late flowering herbaceous perennials. Large clumps of Crocosmia, Hostas, Leucanthemum and grasses. Free plants – what more could you want. You could even put a few pots outside of your house with labels to share with neighbours – if you do not have any spare pots or labels, you can cut up a milk carton or pot noodle pot to make your own labels and you can use various containers from the household as pots or even roll them up in soil and newspaper. But make sure you keep them well watered.
- 7. As it is warm and wet, now is the perfect time to re-seed your patchy lawn. Rake over the patches so the soil is loose and mix a handful of soil with a handful of grass seed. This way, the grass seed is blended into the soil and will be less likely to get blown away or eaten by birds.
- 8. If you haven’t already, sow your summer annual seeds such as marigolds and geraniums. They usually take between 8-12 weeks before they are ready to be planted outdoors so this means they will be ready roughly June time which is perfect. It will be much warmer (hopefully) and no risk of frosts.
- 9. Most of you will have had your green bin and food waste collections cancelled until further notice. Well instead of stopping using this bin or waiting to do various jobs around your garden until it has been emptied, make a compost bin in your garden and put all of your fruit ang veg peelings and waste and green waste from your garden into it. It will rot down into beautiful compost, perfect to mulch your beds and borders or mix into your pots and baskets. It’s also great for your raised vegetable beds. You can use a corner of the garden if it is walled or even just a pile at the bottom of the garden if it is safe and you have room to do so.
- 10. Deadhead all of your winter plants such as pansies and violas. Remove all dead flowers and leaves. This will stop them producing seeds and encourage more flowers. Also, give them a good feed – tomato food is best. This will also help put on a great spring show – usually until May time!