Monty Don has revealed the crucial April gardening tasks to ensure your garden blooms beautifully this summer, including planting sweet peas and deadheading popular shrubs
Monty Don shares his gardening advice for April(Image: Brentwood Gazette)
With summer just around the corner, now is an ideal time to get ahead in the garden, and renowned gardening expert Monty Don believes April is the prime month to get one particular plant in the ground.
With the sun out and spring in full swing, while you’re mowing the lawn, tidying up and clearing out flower beds, there could be one more task worth adding to your to-do list.
Tackling a garden overhaul year after year can quickly feel overwhelming, but as Monty Don points out, those tasks you’ve been putting off tend to fall into two camps.
He suggests they’re either jobs that should be prioritised immediately or ones that can simply wait until next winter, if the delay has gone on too long.
There is, however, one task that is perfectly suited to April and really shouldn’t be overlooked – planting your sweet peas. It’s recommended to plant them out around mid-April in the south, moving towards the end of the month for those further north.
April is the perfect time to get planting(Image: Getty Images)
Many gardeners choose sweet peas to fill their outdoor spaces with their delightful scent and beautiful cut flowers, making them a firm favourite amongst gardeners of all skill levels.
What you might not realise is that the best moment to get started is sooner than you’d expect – in fact, right now, reports the Express.
According to Monty, sweet peas thrive in rich, moisture-retentive soil and cool conditions, making this particular time of year absolutely perfect for getting them established.
When it comes to sweet peas, the more you can enrich the soil with compost or manure prior to planting, the better chance they have of flourishing.
When planting time arrives, the expert recommends growing them up bean sticks arranged in a wigwam formation. He notes that any form of support will suffice, whether bamboo canes or chicken wire – whatever’s to hand will do the job perfectly well.
It’s best to water them in very well before mulching them(Image: Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
Place two or three plants per tray and water them thoroughly before applying mulch. This keeps weeds at bay and prevents the plants from drying out.
A few Aprils ago, he shared his method for achieving the perfect sweet peas come summer on his website, writing: “One word of caution. The aim is to grow strong, healthy individual plants, so if you buy a pot with lots of seedlings, I think it better to divide each pot into two or three.
“Then plant these sections at the base of each support so they have less competition, and you should end up with more flowers.”
Another task Monty Don considers a priority on the April gardening checklist is deadheading much-loved flowers such as azaleas and rhododendrons – what he describes as a “simple job” but one that is frequently neglected.
To prolong their seasonal display and prevent the plants from expending all their energy on seed production, deadheading as many blooms as possible will prove highly beneficial.
It is worth noting, however, that secateurs should be avoided during this process, as they risk damaging the delicate buds beginning to emerge at the base of the flower.
Instead, gather the flower trusses between your fingers and carefully snap them off. This not only encourages the plant’s growth but also removes those unsightly dead flowers that can cling to the shrub for weeks at a time.
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