What To Do In The Garden This Week

Well the weather this week has been rather damp but I am hoping that it is going to get better towards the end of the week.

The jobs that people should be aiming to do this week (4^th April – 10^th April) include turf laying, flower planting, fruit and vegetable planting.

If you have a lawn that is rather patchy and untidy then it may be a good idea to lay some turf. Laying turf can help to get instant results and it can really bring a dull area back to life. It is actually very easy to lay some turf. If take the time and do the hard work now you will be able to sit back and enjoy the garden when the nicer weather appears.

The jobs that you will need to be doing in your flower garden is to fill in the gaps in the flower bed with polyanthus and primulas. Flowering currants and forsythia will need to be pruned as soon as the flowers have faded. Leave the foliage from daffodils intact for about six weeks after they have finished flowering as this will regenerate the bulbs so that they bloom again next years. Take time to plant our groups of gladioli in borders and sow sweet peas directly outside the base of supports or obelisks.

The checklist for the fruit and vegetable garden includes sowing seeds of climbing beans and dwarf beans in deep pots or inside toilet roll tubes which have been filled with compost. Plant some new asparagus beds. Continue the work on planting shallots, potatoes and onions. Take some time to feed spring cabbage with some high nitrogen fertiliser. Remove the forcing jars that have been used on rhubarb plants and allow them to grow uncovered. This week should be a busy week with sowing seeds both under cloches and outside. The seeds that should be getting sown include carrots, broad beans, beetroot, salad onions, cabbage, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, spinach, lettuce, leeks, rocket, coriander, mixed salad, stir fry leaves, turnip, radish, peas, Swiss chard lettuce and mangetout.

The tasks that need to be done within the greenhouse this week includes protecting seedling pots from the cold by using empty plastic bottles to make mini cloches. Prick out seedlings after they have grown their first proper leaves. Open the greenhouse doors and vents in order to ventilate on warm days. Sow herbs such as chives, fennel, basil, coriander and parsley into trays and pots. Plant out pots with the bulbs that will flower in the summer such as eucomis, gloriosa and Tigridia (tiger flower). Start using liquid feed to feed any houseplants.

The other jobs that people should be trying to get done in the garden this week is to spread mulch compost around the border plants in order to keep the weeds under control. If you have a garden pond thoroughly clean the filters and put fountains and pumps back in. Lay new turf and sow new lawn using seeds. Clean out any bird baths that you have in the garden and top them up with fresh water. Check that tree ties are not too tight or digging into the bark and loosen if necessary. Cut back any ivy that is overgrown.