Tips for April 2025

Remove unwanted suckers from the base of trees, shrubs and roses. Instead of cutting, tear them off as close to the roots as possible.

Sow sweet peas outdoors and plant out autumn sown plants once they are hardened off. Pinch off shoot tips of autumn sown plants once they reach 7.5 – 10 cm to encourage them to branch out.

Ensure vibrant stem colour for next winter by pruning back Cornus (Dogwood) and Salix (Willow) hard now. Cut to just above the previous years growth or 5-10cm from the ground.

Plant early and second early seed potatoes now followed by main crop later in the month. Plant into containers  or trenches, covering tubers with at least 2-5cm of soil.

Renovate overgrown and badly shaped evergreen shrubs this month. Camellias, Hollies (Ilex), Euonymus and Laurel tolerate pruning to near ground level.

Apply a layer of mulch to your borders. Use organic matter such as well rotted manure, garden compost,  or mature wood chippings at a depth of 5-10cm. Mulching helps retain moisture, suppress weeds and improve soil texture.

Plant summer flowering bulbs  and corms such as Sucomis and Gladiolus. Plant to the depth of a trowel 15cm.

Later in April when new growth starts to show on hardy fuchsias cut back dead stems to healthy buds lower down the stem or hard prune to the base to renovate.

Make successional sowings of beetroot, carrots, lettuce, radish and spring onions every few weeks to provide a continuation of crops throughout the summer, without being struck with a glut of produce.

Prune figs by removing weak damaged or crossing branches on trees to a 2.5 cm stub. Cut bare long branches to 5 cm to encourage branching, but leave branches with pea sized fruits at the tips to mature.