Maintenance tips for April

  • By tony jepson
  • •
  • 20 May, 2017

Still chilly but you should start your maintenance

Maintenance

- Mow lawns. The aim is to maintain a constant height – not necessarily short! Do what is best for the lawn.

- Continue to weed borders etc. Less weeds now means less weeds later.

- Tie climbing and rambling roses as near to horizontal as possible to restrict sap flow thus causing more sideshoots to grow along the stem resulting in more flowers.

- Mulching rose and shrub beds with a layer of organic matter will help retain moisture and reduce weed build-up – even improving soil structure over time.

- Delay pruning any spring-flowering shrubs such as Forsythia until after they have finished flowering or this year's display will be lost.

- Prune evergreen shrubs such as Choisya ternata and evergreen Ceanothus.

- Remove frost damaged shoots from evergreens damaged by wintry weather.

- Remove green shoots on hardy variegated evergreens that are reverting to a single colour.

- Deadhead spring bedding plants such as pansies and primulas.

- Remove tired or dead winter bedding and plants that did not survive the winter.

- Put supports in place now for perennials so that they can grow over them.

- Prune Penstemons, Teucrium, lavender (if necessary) and other slightly tender plants making the cuts just above fresh, new shoots.

- Deadhead daffodil and tulip flowers as necessary, nipping off the heads and seed pod as they fade but don’t cut them down yet.

Planting

- You can still plant deciduous hedging plants, shrubs, trees and climbers.

- Sweet peas can be sown outside this month

- Plant summer-flowering bulbs.

Propagation

- Take cuttings of conifers for propagation of your favourites. These could take over a year to take root properly.

- Divide any herbaceous perennials you want to propagate.

Treatments

- Apply a high nitrogen spring lawn fertiliser to encourage good, strong growth to replace old growth from last year.

- April is the best month to apply lawn weedkillers as the weeds are inactive growth.

- If you have a problem with moss you can choose a combined fertiliser and mosskiller when feeding the lawn but beware that moss killer can stain clothes and hard surfaces.

Landscaping

- Cut the lawn edges and create a 3in gutting between the lawn and flower borders.

- You can sow new lawns or over-seed dead patches from mid-April to early May.

- Remove algae from paths using a brush with stiff bristles or a pressure washer.

- If the weather is dry paint wooden fences, sheds etc with a wood preservative. Ensure that you use only new chemicals as some older brands are now illegal.

Pond care

- Pond algae grows when there is excessive sun light. Create extra shade by dividing and replanting waterlilies when they are showing signs of growth.

- Start feeding the fish.

- Clean out your pond filter. Check the filter a week after cleaning it as the water will be very dirty from the winter and it may need cleaning again.
Courtesy of The Gardeners Guild.