“The April rain, the April rain, Comes slanting down in fitful showers, Then from the furrow shoots the grain, And banks are fledged with nestling flowers.” Well, we’ve not only had rain but hail and snow too so far this month – what a start to our April gardening! No need to pity all those nestling flowers though, they’re a lot hardier than you might think. Anyway, welcome to my monthly horticultural update, let’s take a look at what to do in the garden this month.
What to do in the garden in April
Regular readers will know that I break this blog post down into sections: flowers, vegetables, jobs, wildlife, plus my usual April gardening tips too. And I always start off with a cat photo – here’s a shiny, happy Loki, taking advantage of a large fungus on our peach tree to perch away from the wet grass 🙂
Spring flowering plants in April
The predominant colour this month is yellow, our daffodils are flowering their hearts out in the orchard. Having planted different varieties of bulbs last Autumn means the early ones are ready for dead heading now, while the later ones are still providing a fabulous display.
And of course, some of the most colourful flowers also come from bulbs, the tulip. Quite honestly, your choice is limitless, both in terms of colour, size and shape. Remember all those tulips I planted in pots last Autumn? Here are some of my favourites currently giving life to our garden, including my first attempt at a bulb lasagne with muscari and tulips.
As these tulips go over, the same dead heading rule applies as with daffodils. You want to pinch off just behind the seed heads but leave the stalks and leaves intact to continue to feed the bulbs for new flowers next year. And once all the pots have finished flowering, I’ll hide them away behind the summerhouse to do their thing out of sight and in peace.
Another colour that’s popping up is blue – not only the blue of the muscari but also the blue of forget-me-knots and the delicate little blooms on one of our hardy perennial Brunnera (Jack Frost). They actually look very similar, don’t they?
And it’s good to see that the frosts last month haven’t killed off the blooms on our two Camellias (this month’s cover picture and below). They really are beautiful shrubs, needing very little attention once established. They’re supposed to prefer acid soil but ours don’t seem to care one way or the other.
We have some gorgeous white Lunaria (Honesty) glowing in the dark shade of the wall again. Lunaria are biennials, meaning they flower every two years, so if you scatter some seed for two years running, you’re pretty much guaranteed a perpetual supply of spring blooms 🙂
You can tell the soil is beginning to warm up now, there are LOADS of weeds emerging. But that’s also a good indication that it’s time to lift and divide your perennials, such as these lovely primroses in our orchard. We have so many now, I feel very lucky. And once our hellebores have finished flowering, I’m going to try the same with them too.
If you follow me on Instagram, you might have seen me complain about what a thug our Vinca Minor (periwinkle) is – small but seriously invasive. However, I have some new bare patches of earth (of which more later) and these will make excellent ground cover, so I’ll be transplanting a few of them soon. They look very pretty at the base of our Summer Snowflakes by the pond in the meantime.
Over in our woodland area the wild garlic has started flowering underneath our weeping pear – pesto time, yum! But some flowers you really have to get down low to fully appreciate, like these beautiful little wild violets, which have a sweet fragrance out of all proportion to their size.
April gardening jobs are all about dead heading, tying in new growth, and keeping on top of the weeding. As I clear a patch, I’m also sprinkling a good layer of compost for the growing season ahead. And I’ll also layer some of my favourite Strulch* as a protective layer of mulch to keep the moisture in and the weeds out.
What to do in the vegetable garden in April
Despite some additional intensive work at the end of March, April gardening is progressing well where my vegetables are concerned. My November-sown Robin Hood broad beads* and Crimson Flowered broad beads* are growing away happily. And I’ve planted out my November-sown sweet peas* too – I was very sceptical last year as I’ve always sown these seeds in March but wow, I am a convert now – just look at them growing up the canes!
Last month I sowed our favourite ‘Rainbow Blend’ F1 Hybrid tomatoes* and Burpless Tasty Green cucumbers* indoors. And they’re both coming on beautifully – since this photo was taken, I’ve already potted on the cucumbers.
I mentioned the soil has warmed up nicely now so it’s time to begin to direct sow your seeds like carrots* and fast growing radishes. And it’s lovely to see our fruit trees becoming covered in blossom again – fingers crossed for no more late frosts now…
April gardening jobs
Seed starting is happening in earnest this month. Over in the greenhouse I’ve got my new dahlia tubers growing away in pots (I hope, it’s hard to tell!) and I have LOTS of seeds on the go. This year I’m hoping to plant out some night-scented plants Nicotiana* and Stocks*, edible and pretty vibrant blue Cornflowers*, creamy yellow Calendulas*, and neon pink Nasturtiums*, and my favourite Cosmos Lemonade* and Cosmos Dazzler*. Last but not least, I’m trying again with some new purple Cobea Scandens vine* seeds – will it be third time lucky?
Alan’s cutting the grass every 2-3 weeks now, mowing around all our daffodils in the orchard. As the grass grows more prolifically, he’ll lower the mower blades accordingly. At this time of year it’s easy to see where we need to carry out some lawn care and fill in any bare patches too – something else for the April to do list… But now the weather’s warmed up, I think it’s safe to move our pelargoniums from their overwintered spot in the conservatory back outside again. Probably by the back door, for easy harvesting – not just for teas and cakes but also this delicious sounding cordial for refreshing summer drinks.
Wildlife gardening jobs for April
Regular readers will know that we try very hard to look after our wildlife, and keeping bird feeders topped up before the breeding season gets underway is part of that. One of Alan’s daily April gardening jobs is replenishing ours with quality wild bird food* and high energy fat balls*. And we also try to keep our ponds clear from excess vegetation, to give the newly hatched tadpoles and newts, as well as our fish, plenty of room to thrive.
April gardening – a summary
We’ve almost reached the end of my April gardening update and reminders of what to do in the garden in this month. If you caught last month’s garden post, you may recall I said that late Winter/early Spring is a great time to review your garden design, and I laid a teaser about a new plan for our home. Well, here it is!
And as you can see, we’ve made a really good start. Obviously, everything is still very much a work in progress and we have to wait for the plants to grow and fill up the spaces. To keep the costs down, we dug out all the beds ourselves and sourced small, young plants. So it’s very much not at the “Love Your Garden” mature show garden stage yet… But it’s still SO EXCITING!!!
I know I harp on about the benefits of gardening and how good it feels to get your hands dirty but honestly, it’s all true. That said, the dry river bed linking the two ponds will have to wait for next year – partly because we have no space for more grass sods/turf piles to rot down (see below) and partly because we’re shattered! Our skeleton has relocated to the front of the house for the time being too – where Alan caught the recycling men taking photos of him the other day 🙂
So, there we are, have you enjoyed your virtual visit to April in our garden? Much as I’m loving all the colour we’re seeing this month, I am giddily excited for our new herbaceous garden beds to spring into life. And I’m really looking forward to sharing updates with you as the gardening year progresses. With that in mind, I’ll see you again in May with (hopefully) lots of good things share!
* This post features affiliate links but all opinions are my own (see my Disclaimer).
That’s amazing that you have a whole garden design plan! Forget me nots are so cute and I love how many daffodils you have in your garden, they really do bring so much colour and happiness! 🙂 Tulips are some of my favourite flowers xxx
I know, it’s so exciting! Thank you, Jenny, tulips make my home a brighter place, glad you agree too! xx
Thanks for this, gardening is my goal 2022, I have no idea what I should be growing when. So far, I’ve managed to weed, cut back bushes and rip out the things I hated….small steps and that
Weeding, pruning and digging out are all great starts – but gardening should be fun so just grow what you’d like to see and eat 🙂
You’ve shared some great tips on what to do this April lovely, thank you so much. Those flowers are absolutely gorgeous, makes me so happy to finally see spring flowers blooming. I’ll get again pass this blogpost onto my Nan as she’s the gardener in our family. Xo
Elle – ellegracedeveson.com
Ah thank you, Elle, that’s very kind – I hope you Nan approves of my post this month! x
You are so organised and inspirational. I am starting my garden refresh and loving it too.
Thank you, Jamie, wow, that’s very kind of you to say so!
I love your drawn-out plan, it looks incredibly detailed! I have been loving seeing the forget-me-nots & bluebells appearing. I have just planted some pea shoots & herbs into pots.
I know, I’m hoping our new beds will reflect it as faithfully, haha. Exciting times, I’ve just bought some pea shoots for planting out too 🙂
Oh wow… love the daffodils and tulips. You make me wish I’m at your garden now sipping tea and eating scones. Thank you for taking me on this visual tour.
That’s so kind, Fadima, I wish you could visit one day – sipping tea and eating scones sounds perfect!
The amazing garden as always and love the cat on the fungus haha. My dream is to have a garden in my future house and this will be so helpful. I always note what to do with plants from your posts. thank you for sharing!
Thank you so much, that’s very kind of you to say so, I’m very happy my garden updates are helpful 🙂
Aw I love this! I feel like I say this every month but Loki is super cute, haha. The bulb lasagne looks super cool and I love the forget-me-knots too, they’re one of my favourite flowers. I always find cherry blossoms so pretty this time of year too! Thanks for sharing x
Thank you, Ceri, and yes, Loki is very cute and very photogenic! We have a lot of cherry blossom coming out now, I’ll have to share some photos on Instagram 🙂 x
Wow these are so gorgeous, and I love hearing more about how your garden develops. It looks like Spring and Summer are going to be fantastic months for you x
Thank you, Eleanor, I do hope so! x
Ah, your Lunaria is simply stunning! What a beautiful color and gorgeous blossom.
We are finally beginning to see real signs of spring in the pale green mist coming over the trees, and the fruit trees in blossom. Daffodils and tulips have come up too, and peas and lettuce have gone into the garden. 🙂
You can get Lunaria in purple too, I have some seeds to scatter so fingers crossed for next year! Glad to hear spring is arriving with you at last, enjoy your early greens 🙂
Thanks for sharing. I’ve found some new flowers to try and find here in the States. You reminded me I need to get out my blog post on what to do in April for your gardens and flowers. I’ve let April slip by to fast! lol happy gardening! 👩🏻🌾
Oh that’s great to hear, I’m very happy to have inspired future flower finds! Happy gardening to you too, Sherry 🙂
Your garden is so amazing! I’m just starting on a balcony garden for this year. Of course, right after I planted my first seeds it hailed and snows haha! Oh April weather! I love all of your flowers. They are so beautiful. It’s exciting to see all of the things you have planned for the year 🙂
Thank you so much, Alison, it’s very much a labour of love! And I can empathise, I had a balcony (window box really) garden for 15 years so all good things in the end 🙂
Your garden looks awesome. The pictures of flowers are awesome. The plan for connecting two ponds sounds interesting. I tend to grow vegetables.
Thank you very much – I’m getting more into vegetables now, although I find fruit is less onerous 🙂
Wow, I don’t know anything about gardening, lol! 🙈🤣 So this was very insightful and helpful for me. I wish I had a large garden so that I would have lots of flowers in it. Thank you so much for sharing, Lisa. xx Penny.
Penny, to be honest, neither did I when I started, but it’s been, and continues to be, a lot of fun learning! x
OMG all these flowers! You are so lucky! It actually snowed here yesterday, so it’s still brown and dull here. I’m so happy to see some lovely flowers like yours.
Snow is a good insulator though, so anything you have growing will be well protected!
I love how you have a garden plan in place Lisa, that’s such a good idea to know how you would like everything to be x
Lucy | http://www.lucymary.co.uk
Thank you, Lucy, it’s really exciting, I can’t wait for everything to be fully grown now! x
I can’t wait till I have a garden of my own to fill with beautiful plants! I love seeing all the colours come out during spring. For now, I have to stick to my house plants!
I don’t envy you, my houseplant game is rubbish, I’m much better with plants that can live outside!
You garden is beautiful! I wish I had a backyard that I could plant a garden such as yours. Although I would probably kill everything as I am notorious for killing plants lol I love how organized you are as well. That garden plan is amazing and definitely goal worthy!
Thank you so much, but I suspect you do yourself a disservice, most outdoor plants are a lot hardier than we might imagine! Indoor plants on the other hand tend to faint if you look at them in the wrong way – or maybe that’s just my experience 🙂
As always, it’s a joy to read these gardening updates. They bring a little extra brightness into my day and make me feel as though I got the fresh air out in the garden, despite staying indoors (to avoid the heat, insane pollen allergy attacks, and bees haha). Your space is an inspiration! And I’m loving the skeleton just lounging about haha!
Thank you, Stephanie, that’s so kind of you to say so – I’m so sorry you find outdoors challenging, that’s such a shame 🙁 But I’m very happy my garden updates give you a little boost each month!
Thanks for sharing your April gardening jobs, mine are just make sure I water when it’s warm and dead head 🙂
Nic | Nic’s Adventures
That would be a dream, so much more time to enjoy everything!
Because my gardening skills are non existing I had to Google ‘dead heading’. I’m pleased to see a photo included in this post.
Ha, it’s literally what it sounds like, it’s very satisfying!
Your gardening posts are enjoyable to read and I always love seeing the photos of all the flowers!
That’s exciting you have a garden design plan! Also that’s funny you moved your skeleton to the front of your house haha
Ah, thank you so much, Karalee, that’s very kind. And yes, I think our skeleton is going to stay FOH, he seems to like it there!