Garden Tips & Tasks - April 2011

Vegetables

• Time to dig up and divide Rhubarb crowns, mixing in heaps of compost before replanting.
• A good time for sowing of Spinach and Snap Peas.
• Spring Onions Sow these now. Fill the top of a shallow pot with Spring Onions and pull them as they’re needed. Start picking when plants are still quite small.
• Harvest Pumpkins now and remember not to remove the stalk from the Pumpkin, this stops it from rotting.

Lawn Care

• Now is the time to sow your lawn. Look for the Lawn Seed Information and Growing Guide at all good garden stores.
• Lay ready lawn now so it can establish before the Winter rains. Remember to fertilise before you lay the turf.
• Choose lawn seed that will provide you with the required features. For example if you need to have a hardwearing lawn for family and friends, choose a grass with a coarse habit.

Fruit

• Strawberries can be planted now and are available right through until June as long as availability is right.
• Any fruit and leaves that have dropped around the plant should be cleaned up as they fall, to keep disease down.
• Pull out Tomato plants now and pick off all the green fruit, it will ripen in the sun in a warm spot.

Indoor Gardening / Flowers

• April is an important Rose blooming month. Continue deadheading Roses to keep the display looking at its best.
• Still some time left to plant those Bulbs. Use Bulb potting Mix for top performance.
• Shrubs like Azaleas, Rhododendrons and Camellias will love another feed of fertiliser. Use Azalea, Camellia & Rhododendron Fertiliser to give them adequate nutrition for great blooms in Winter time.
• Lily bulbs will become available this month and can be planted from now until June.

Trees

• Cover Citrus and other frost tender plants with frost cloth at night or with Microclima which can be placed permanently over the plant for Winter.
• Shrubs and trees that are planted out in the garden in Autumn will have plenty of time to establish before they have to cope with the stresses of Summer.
• You will still need to protect those young seedlings from snail damage. This can be done by spreading slug and snail pellets around young plants.

General Gardening

• Tui Dried Blood. High in Nitrogen, Dried Blood is an easy way to replenish the nitrogen content in the soil. Plants like Polyanthus, Primulas and Cyclamen love it and will flourish when you add dried blood to their diet. 100% Pure and Natural.
• After planting, fertilise newly planted Spring Annuals and new vegetable plantings with a good general fertiliser. This helps get their root systems going.

Organic Gardening

• Mulch for plant nutrition and protection from excessive Winter cold. Pelletised Pea Straw is so easy to use: Just sprinkle on and water in.
• There are plenty of fallen leaves about now so think of maybe composting them. (don't use Walnut tree leaves they do not compost)
• No matter what type of soil you have, it can be improved by mixing in some old organic compost.

Container Gardening

• Frosts are about now so think about moving tender plants in pots to some place where protection is available.

Plant Care / Spraying

• Quash. Snail and slugs love the cooler Autumn weather. Protect your plants with the only slug & snail bait that is pet and wildlife friendly. Unlike other brands available, Quash does not contain the deadly poison methaldehyde. The active ingredient in Quash is an EDTA Iron complex which is deadly to slugs and snails but breaks down as Iron in the soil.
• Continue to spray fruit trees showing signs of mildew or other diseases with Copper.