GardenAdvice.co.uk Gardening calendar 2nd Week April ( audio available )
As the gardening season begins to gather momentum, there are several tasks you can tackle in your garden to set yourself up for a fantastic gardening spring and summer. Here’s your guide to what you should be doing in your garden this week:
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Preparing Pots and Troughs
- Remove Winter Flowering Plants: As you start removing winter flowering plants like daffodils, early pansies, and other bulbs from your pots and troughs, it’s important to inspect the compost for vine weevil.
- Spotting Vine Weevil: Look for small, maggot-sized grubs with brown heads. They are most commonly found in eco-type composts rather than John Innes composts.
- Treatment: If you detect vine weevil, the most effective cure is to apply a nematode solution directly onto the pot.
- Caution: Vine weevils can also affect open soil, especially where you have used a lot of compost or added grit and sand, so inspect your beds as well.
Hardening Off Seedlings
- If you have been growing seedlings on a windowsill, such as tomatoes and courgettes, remember that natural light through glass is not as strong as direct sunlight.
- During sunny days, place your seedlings outside for a few hours to allow them to acclimate to natural light and prevent them from becoming too leggy.. Remember to bring them back inside overnight to avoid cold damage.
Starting Chilis and Peppers
- Now is a good time to look out for chilis and peppers in garden centres or stores like B&Q.
- These plants are typically started by growers just after Christmas, offering a great head start to the season.
- Growing chilis and peppers in large pots allows you to bring them indoors during cooler months, extending the fruiting period well into September and October.
See what the GardenAdvice.co.uk Team has been up to this week helping clients and members
Building Hot Beds
- The Garden Advice team has been busy building hot beds using English frames.
- What is a hot bed? It’s a technique where horse manure is allowed to decompose under a layer of soil and plastic, creating heat which can be used to germinate early-season crops like lettuce, salad leaves, and radishes.
- If you’re keen to start crops early, this method provides a natural and cost-effective way to increase soil temperature.
Planting Designs for Colourful Gardens
- This is the perfect time to plan and plant colourful borders that eliminate the need for summer bedding.
- Using perennials, annuals, and shrubs, you can create a stunning display that provides interest throughout the seasons.
- With the help of our latest AI agents, we can now generate realistic images of how your garden will look throughout the year, helping you plan your designs more accurately.
Upcoming Trips & Resources
- The GardenAdvice team is arranging trips to Kew Gardens for members and My Garden team members.
- For more information, check your emails or follow the link here: Kew Gardens Visit Information.
Tips & Recommendations
- Keep an eye out for deals on young pepper and chili plants to give yourself a head start on the growing season.
- Regularly inspect your pots, troughs, and beds for pests like vine weevil to avoid any unpleasant surprises.
Consider experimenting with hot beds if you want to accelerate your crop growth early in the season.
