GARDEN TIPS for APRIL
Autumn =
Sunshine and Rain – Warm and Cold
Get ready for work in the Garden – This is the time we roll up our sleeves and do a great effort in the whole garden from veges to flowers to trees to bulbs. Also I have made the Salsa recipe (from January Garden Tips) three times now and can highly recommend it. A great way to use large voumes of ripening tomatoes
Enjoy the work out! Plus FREE Bulbs – See below
Edible Garden
- Perfect time for planting winter veges beetroot, broccoli, brussel sprouts cabbages, cauli, silverbeet plus winter lettuces
- Dig out/bag up all of your potatoes/onion now. Harvest pumpkins store in cool dry place
- Autumn is a time to watch out for slugs/snails. Blitzem to control these pests or another option is to sprinkle rotted sawdust around slug loving plants
- Plant citrus, blueberries/raspberries also get ready to prune/tying raspberries now to encourage good fruiting season in summer.
- Sow green crops in cleared areas
Fruit Trees
- Once leaves fall spray with Champ DP Copper Fungicide” This will protect leaf scars from fungal and bacterial infection
- Flowers/Colour – SPECIAL for WEB READERS – Mention you have read the “Garden Tips for April” and you will receive a FREE bag of bulbs for every 3 bags of bulbs you have purchased
- Plant your spring bulbs e.g. daffodils, tulips, hyacinths,. Tip – Chill tulip bulbs in fridge 4 – 6 weeks prior to planting
- Plant in groupings around letterbox/under specimen trees or in the flower garden
- Tip: If planting bulbs in pots, plant bulbs a little later or plant and put pot in colder area
- Avoid using soft bulbs or watch out for old stock
- Don’t forget to feed existing bulb area with bulb food ‘Fiesta bulb plant food’ also use when planting new bulbs
- Annual Flowers: Prepare beds, compost, fertilise – Plant Polyanthus, Pansies, Poppies, Wall flowers etc. for early spring flowering
Roses
- Lightly deadhead roses
- Leave hard pruning for winter
Seeds
- Plant flower seeds now, fertilise with a slow release fertiliser
Garden Clean up
- Rake autumn leaves for compost heap Tip: Avoid using Walnut tree leaves
- Prune hedging to allow new growth to harden off before winter sets inlace fresh pea-straw to help keep garden weed free
Lawns
- Fertilise lawns to keep green – If any bare patches sprinkle a little topsoil and grass seed, water in if the autumn rains haven’t arrived after the sowing
- Autumn is the very best time to form a new lawn/revamp existing one – Ask at Evergreen Garden Centre for tips on creating a new lawn
- Check for grass grub (dead patches in lawn) Apply ‘Soil Insect Killer’ now to control
- Lawn weed problems? Apply Turfix or Versatill for flat weeds and broadleaf
Trees/shrubs
- Fertilise camellias, rhodos, azaleas, Daphne, buxus hedging with “Rhodo fertiliser”
- Hold off from pruning your Rhodos and Camellias – or you will cut off the flowers
- Any potted plants – indoor/outdoor fertilise for autumn flush of growth
- Best time for planting trees and shrubs – While soil is still warm, this encourages root establishment
- Lightly trim hedges/topiary now before the frosts set in.
- Moving plants? – Dig around them but don’t move yet – Tip: – Don’t move plants in flower
