April Gardening by Stuart McCann of Gardening Angel
good head start towards a lush, green lawn,
which you can enjoy during the summer
months. Also, anytime from April you can
apply a good ‘weed and feed’ product to your
lawn which will also help a lot.
I love this time of year, all the spring bulbs
starting to show and various shrubs, climbers
and trees beginning to bud. Temperatures have
been pretty decent recently (especially Saturday
just gone), but we still need to be a tad careful
when pruning due to a few frosty mornings.
Today’s date is Monday 9th March and over
the last 2-3 weeks I have been approached
by a number of new clients who would like
some help creating a new flower bed/border.
This part of my job is very exciting, as there
are a number of themes you can go for. Each
client has their own personal taste and this
can range from a formal, regimented look
to a wild cottage garden style border. The
most recent client has agreed on an oriental,
modern look consisting of bamboo, tall
grasses and palms etc.
One thing that I am keeping an eye on from
now is the various wallflowers that I planted
for my clients last autumn. They went in
the ground last October and they should
be starting to flower sometime during
spring. They are not everyone’s cup of tea,
but wallflowers give you a splash of colour
in spring and grow quite rapidly if planted
correctly. It’s not just wallflowers that
produce the goods in April/May. Forsythia
can look pretty decent with its stunning
small yellow flowers, but remember to prune
straight after flowering so next year’s show
can be just as good!
The weather in April will certainly kick start
your lawn into shape, a mixture of April
showers and (hopefully) warm sun will make
the grass grow rapidly. Ideally I try to mow
my own lawn once a week in spring and
summer, but this obviously depends on a
number of obstacles like the weather and if
you are too busy. I mentioned in an earlier
article last autumn about scarifying the moss
out from your lawn, adding a good quality
loam and making spike holes which will help
drainage. If this was done then you have a
14
To advertise in Hiya Bucks text or call 07947 349134