Jobs For April

With the lovely warm weather there is now no excuse for getting out in the garden and tackling a few jobs. Here are some things that can be done this month.

• Feed rose bushes using Toprose plant food.
• Plant out onion sets. Push them into the ground so the top is just poking through the soil, leaving about 6 inches between the sets.
• Sow salad crops, like Rocket, Salad Bowl Lettuce or mixed leaf. Sow successional plantings so that there is a continued supply throughout the summer.
• Weed paths and drives. As the weather warms up, and the April showers kick in, weeds can appear as if from nowhere overnight. As soon as they start to grow use a weedkiller like Weedol or Roundup to get on top of the problem. Or remove them by hand, which can be quite therapeutic.
• Continue to earth up your potatoes. By pulling earth up over the emerging shoots you will help to increase your yield. So it's worth doing.
• Protect apple and plum trees against maggots by using Codling Moth Traps. One trap hanging in a tree will treat several. The traps contain a pheromone which entices the moth, they then become stuck to the sticky insert.
• Sow new lawns from seed. As the weather warms up, and the soil is still damp, it creates the perfect environment for sowing or patching up a lawn. Sow seed at a rate of 35 - 50 grams per square metre. If the weather remains dry then water regularly, and continue to do so until the lawn is established.
• Feed existing lawns using Feed, Weed and Mosskill to ensure a strong lawn throughout the growing season.

Easter Traditions

Happy Easter!

While the kids, and big kids alike, tuck into their chocolate Easter eggs the gardener knows that Easter marks the start of the season proper. And today, being Good Friday, is the day that seed potatoes are traditionally planted. So if you haven't got yours planted yet, or haven't even thought about it yet, then it's not too late!

We still have a few seed spuds left, mostly main crops, but among these varieties there are some superb choices. A few of our favourites include Juliette (a delicious, buttery late salad), Opera (a main crop with excellent blight resistance) and Romano (a red bred from Desiree with the same all round uses but with none of the scab associated with its parent.)

So, a bit of planning now can result in an excellent crop later and a great deal of satisfaction.

Open As Usual

We are open every day throughout the Easter weekend, including Easter Sunday. Our opening times are 9am to 5pm at the weekend and 9am to 5.30pm during the week. We look forward to welcoming you this Easter.