Although usually a very wet time of year, April can bring some surprisingly warm and sunny days, providing plenty of opportunity to get stuck into the long list of jobs for this month!

Sowing seeds

If you’re growing plants from seed, there are loads of varieties to sow now. Sowing any seed is a brilliant activity for children so let them help out too! Continue to sow hardy annual flowers such as marigolds and nasturtiums outside, but as we’re still prone to frost outside, nurture your tender flowers such as cosmos, zinnias and begonias inside until you are ready to plant out in May. Keep sowing your veg seeds under cover too – beetroot, Swiss chard, lettuce and sweetcorn are just some of the plants you can start growing this month. It’s also your last chance to sow tomatoes, chilies and aubergines in time for them to fruit this season! 

Companion planting

You could also think about how to utilise companion planting in your veg garden; growing plants that have mutual benefits to each other, such as protection from certain pests. If you've got tomatoes growing this year, check out our blog post on what to grow with them.

Lawns and sowing grass seed

If you have a lawn that needs some attention, now is a good time to seed those bare patches. If you are using a new grass seed mix for this, don’t forget to lightly overseed the existing grass too, so that when the new seed grows, old and new grasses blend to form a lush green carpet. 

Although there’s usually no shortage of rain in April, it doesn’t rain in sheltered pots, so keep an eye on your containers and start watering regularly again as the weather warms up. You can also refresh the compost in your containers by removing the top 5cm of old compost and replacing with fresh compost. This will help to feed the existing compost and give your plants a boost! 

And if you need further encouragement to get your hands dirty this month, then It’s National Gardening Week from 29 April–5 May 2024. a celebration aiming to inspire more people to experience the joy of growing, as well as visiting beautiful green spaces. Tulips, daffodils, forget-me-nots, camellias, and some early flowering clematis are just some of the beautiful flowers you can spot whilst out and about this month. 

Author: Alison Kenehan, RHS-qualified gardener and mother

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