Sorry for the later than normal posting of this months tips but due to the continuing wintery U.K. weather conditions many gardeners are being delayed with their monthly to do lists so far this month.
1. Although weather conditions for the U.K. are supposed to improve next week, if you have access to snow free planting areas it is still a good idea to cover them with plastic sheeting, cardboard, cloches or other materials to help the soil warm more quickly, if we get some sun that is. (Lidl are currently selling cheaply priced cloches).
2. We are still experiencing heavy overnight frosts here in Somerset, so any planting areas that require digging or rotavating will benefit from the frosts action, helping to kill bugs and break down the soils surface.
3. Easter weekend was the traditional time to start planting Potatoes in U.K. If you are planting them in cold soil conditions they will stay dormant under approximately (40 F) (4.4C).
4. If you are growing plants from seed indoors, check the moisture of the soil/compost regularly, especially if your central heating is still running??
5. Keep feeding the garden birds.
6. Cinnamon can be used as a fungicide, it can be mixed into your potting compost to help prevent damping off of seedlings.
7. Black bin liners filled with paper or cardboard make good insulators either on the ground or around plants.
8. If you have Broad-leafed docks growing in your allotment/garden, be aware that they are a host for Potato eelworm and several none-beneficial insects.
9. Some plants to prune in Springtime: Asters, Astilbe, Butterfly bush, Campanula, Chrysanthemum, Delphinium, Dianthus, Hosta, Lavender.
10. Some more tips for April (that is if the U.K. weather is "average").
SOWING/PLANTING IN APRIL
1. Sow the following: Beetroot, Broad Beans, Broccoli, Brussel Sprouts, Cabbage, Cauliflower, Chard, Kale, Kohl-Rabi, Leeks, Lettuce, Peas, Radish, Rocket, Spinach. Potatoes, Onion and shallot sets.
2. Artichokes and Asparagus can be planted.
3. Outdoor cucumbers & tomatoes can be sown & kept in the warm.
4. Plant French Beans, Lettuce & Sweetcorn under cloches.
5. This is a good time to plant Strawberries.
OTHER JOBS IN APRIL
1. Keep an eye on the weather as ground frost is still likely this month.
2. Keep areas of ground warmer with fleece/polythene to aid later planting.
3. Weeds are starting to appear, so hoe them off before they set seed.
4. Now is the time to erect barriers around your carrots 2 to 3ft high to combat the dreaded Carrot fly. Alternatively cover your Carrots with fleece but ensure all edges are well covered with soil. Keep Carrots earthed up.
5. Plant Onions between rows of Carrots or other plants that might repel the Carrot fly.
6. Slugs & snails will be coming out now. Combat them by: Keep the soil hoed and loose, use beer traps, spread coarse grit, pine needles, straw, sawdust around your plants.
The weather was murky first thing this morning but I decided to drive down to the plots and finally start some serious work, for the first time since my hip op. I loaded up the car with some netting, cloches, 2 kg of oatmeal, various packets of seeds, oodles of cardboard and some kitchen waste and set off at about 10 a.m. The first task was to level off the soil on 2 of the beds on N2 plot, which had been dug and cleared of weeds last year during the Dandelion wars. The soil was damp and sticky if walked on but I was able to rake and level both beds from the adjacent paths, without too much effort. Two days of not heavy, but persistent rain on Thursday and Friday last, hadn't caused too much of a problem with only the lower lying areas of the plots, which are shaded by trees, being wet underfoot. By the time I had finished leveling the 2 beds off, a little sunshine was sneaking through the thick cloud and drying out the surface soil, slightly. The Senshyu Onions which were overwintering, from seed, on N1 plot were then thinned out and re-planted into one of the beds I had just finished raking over. The other bed will be used for planting Onion sets into, hopefully tomorrow, if the Arctic weather which has been forecast holds off, that is. I then cleared the remaining Sprout plants from last years Brassica bed on Plot N1, dispatching them to the bottom of this years new compost heap, along with a few weeds from the same bed. The remainder of the bed was then hoed over, ready for later sowing and planting. Two rows of Peas, (Hurst Greenshaft), were then sown into this years Legumes bed on N1 Plot and covered with cloches, due to the expected cold weather in the next couple of weeks.
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