Georgia Morton
April has arrived, bringing longer, warmer days and a garden bursting back to life. With the dormant season behind us and fresh growth emerging, now is the perfect time to get stuck into essential gardening tasks and make the most of the improving weather. 🌞 Here are our top gardening jobs for the month:
1. Deadhead early spring
flowering shrubs ✂️
Early spring-flowering plants like Forsythia, Chaenomeles, and Camellias will benefit from deadheading spent blooms, helping to keep them tidy while reducing the risk of disease. Now is also a great time to remove any weak or damaged stems, encouraging strong, healthy growth and even more flowers next year! 🌸
2. Maintaining tools & equipment for the season ahead 🧽
As your garden springs back to life and the weather improves, you’ll want to spend more time outdoors. April is the perfect time to give your tools and equipment a little TLC, ensuring they’re in top condition for the months ahead. Clean pots, tools, and greenhouses with warm, soapy water or a mild disinfectant to remove any lingering pests and diseases lingering from winter. Sharpen secateurs, shears, and spades for smoother pruning and planting.
3. Plant your summer bulbs 🌿🌷
April is the perfect time to plant summer-flowering bulbs like Dahlias, Lilies, Begonias, and Gladioli. With the soil warming up and the last frost behind us, planting early ensures stronger growth and more abundant blooms throughout summer.
4. Prune Hydrangeas ✂️🌿
April is the ideal time to prune hydrangeas, encouraging healthy growth and abundant flowers later in the season. If you left the dried flowerheads on over winter for protection, these can now be carefully removed, cutting back to the first strong pair of buds below the faded bloom. ✂️
For Hydrangea paniculata and Hydrangea arborescens, the most important task is removing any dead wood to maintain plant health. If needed, these varieties can also be pruned more drastically, cutting back to a framework of branches to encourage stronger, more prolific flowering in summer. 🌼
Climbing hydrangeas don't require pruning yet, as they produce blooms on deadwood (growth from the previous year). These can be cut back immediately after flowering in summer if required.
5. Divide and replant hardy perennials 🌱
Dividing clump-forming hardy perennials is a simple and rewarding way to create new plants for your garden! Just dig up the clump, carefully split it into two using a spade or garden fork, and replant the divisions wherever you like. This not only expands your garden but also rejuvenates the plants, keeping them healthy and thriving by by preventing overcrowding, improving airflow, and encouraging stronger growth and flowering!
6. Give your trees a spring mulch🌱
Spring is the ideal time to apply mulch, helping to lock in moisture, suppress weeds, and protect soil from drying out as temperatures rise. Organic options like compost, well-rotted manure, bark chippings, and leaf mould also enrich the soil, acting as a slow-release plant food. As mulch breaks down, worms and microorganisms improve soil structure, making it more fertile and well-draining. Apply a 5cm (2-inch) layer around plants, keeping it slightly away from stems to prevent rot. A fresh layer of mulch not only keeps your garden looking neat but also supports strong, healthy growth all season long.
