hiya bucks in Bourne End, Flackwell Heath, Marlow, Wycombe, Wooburn April 2014 | Page 6

April Gardening

by Stuart McCann of Gardening Angel

Wow....yesterday was a scorcher for this
time of year! Close to 19 degrees near to
where I live in Penn! Today has been much
fresher but at least it has been dry and the
forecast for the rest of the week is dry as
well! Hopefully all that miserable cold, wet
weather is a thing of the past and we can
officially look forward to spring. I love it
when the nights get lighter and the days get
warmer, it means our beds and borders are
waking up and doing their best to keep us
happy, all the way through towards autumn
and beyond.
A few signs telling me spring is here is when
my forsythia starts to produce it’s small

Here are some more jobs for April:
1.  ive your shrubs that are in large pots
G
some TLC by scraping away moss
which has gathered on top of old
compost. After scraping a thin layer off,
simply top up with fresh loam based
compost.
2.  our ferns will look a bit worse for
Y
wear at the moment, so cut off the old
foliage which in turn will make way for
nice new growth.
3.Take good care of your garden tools
by giving them a good clean and
sharpening if needed. Edging tools,
secateurs and hedge trimmers could do
with getting their sharpness back ready
for the busy months ahead!
4.  eep slugs at bay by using slug pellets
K
sparingly around your most vulnerable
plants, or using a copper ring is a good
idea especially around hostas.
6

yellow flowers, bearded iris
start producing their long
stems and my clematis
‘armandii’ is starting to
look spectacular with its
creamy white flowers!
I finally got to use my lawnmower for the
first time last week, making sure to raise
the blades higher than normal for the first
cut of the year. There is a lot of moss around
this year which is due to the damp, wet, cold
weather we have just had. Some of my clients’
lawns are in good condition, as we spent time
to scarify the moss out in autumn and also
aerated the lawns and applied a sandy top
dressing. If you didn’t scarify your lawn last
autumn then don’t worry as April/May is the
next best time to do this.
Now is the time to be dividing perennial
plants, with the main objecti ٔ