April is probably my favourite month of the year … and not just because it’s my birthday.
Everything gets easier. It’s not hot, it’s not wet, the bugs settle down, the weeds slow up, and you’re getting the garden ready for winter. And there’s football on the radio.
Take some time to enjoy the seasonal changes of April … but as you can see below, there’s still a long list of chores in the garden.
• Plant sweet peas, snow peas, sugar snap peas, climbing peas and bush peas. Plant as either seed or seedlings into soil that has had some dolomite added. Maybe also try asparagus peas.
• Start to reduce the frequency you mow the lawn and start raising the blade height to allow the grass to keep a reasonable amount of leaf during the cooler months.
• Fertilise your roses, especially if you haven’t done it for a few years.
• It’s time to dig up, divide and replant your hippeastrum and lilium bulbs. Plant them into soil enriched with organic matter and a little blood and bone.
• Carefully cut off side-shoots (pups) of bromeliads to create new plants. Plant these in the garden or in pots using a well-drained potting mix.
• Go around the garden and take a critical look, removing plants that don’t inspire you anymore. Now is a good time to replace them.
• Most vegetables can go in now – especially the brassica family (Asian greens, broccoli, kale and collards, mustard, cabbage).
• Lightly trim back lavender and rosemary. Dry the trimmings and use them in scent pots around the house or in your drawers.
• Perennials that have finished flowering should be cut back hard.
• If you didn’t do it last month, you should fertilise the lawn with a complete fertiliser right away.
• Strawberry runners should be kept growing with a fortnightly feed of fertiliser, such as Thrive.
• As the sun gets lower, move indoor plants further away from windows and glass doors to prevent them from burning.
• Spray citrus fruit with a sulphur spray to control the citrus rust mite.
• Bougainvillea cuttings can be taken now and grown in pots for sharing to friends and family.
• Mound soil around bean stems to stop them from falling over should the bean fly have been active.
• Garlic can be planted until the end of April – planting after this date reduces the size of the bulbs.
• Plant evergreen fruit trees but defer planting deciduous fruit trees until July-August.
• Prune your passionfruit vines, cut the laterals back to two buds
• Prune stone fruit which has finished fruiting and are still actively growing. Remove suckers from all fruit trees as close to the bark as possible.
• This is a good time to weed and mulch under fruit trees and spread lime. Prunings can be added to the mulch.