April in the Garden and on the Vegetable Patch

We are into Spring and there is a plethora of jobs that we can be getting on with in the garden over the next few weeks. By now you will have begun mowing the lawn and may have noticed some bare or damages patches. Now is a great time to sow grass seed to fill those gaps before summer.  

Remember to check your plants for Aphids such as Greenfly and Blackfly and rub off any you find before they become an infestation. There are hundreds of products on the market to deal with Aphids but the easiest, quickest and most environmentally friendly answer to the problem is to squash them by running your finger and thumb along the stem of the plant. On my Runner Beans each year, which will get attacked by Blackfly you can be sure, I find blasting them off with the hose works nicely as well. For wildlife friendly pest control you are actually best to let Mother Nature get on with it as much as possible. By not using sprays you will be amazed by the number of friendly little beasties that will arrive in your garden. Between Ladybirds, Lacewings and the larvae of the Hoverfly that all gorge themselves on Aphids and a helping hand from Sparrows as well Blue and Great Tits you do not need to spray. 

 

With the warmer temperatures and longer days now with us it is the time to sow seeds. Remember to watch the weather forecast and some seeds will still be best sown in fibre pots and grown on indoors just in case of a very late frost but many seeds can also now be direct sown. Carrots and Parsnip seeds on the veg patch for example if not done so already. If you don’t have room for a vegetable patch why not sow some Chantenay Carrots in a container? These short-rooted Carrots don’t need much depth to grow in and are delicious. I once grew them in one of those blue plastic child's paddling pools shaped like a seashell that had seen better days and was no longer required as a pool. I simply filled it with compost sowed the seeds and treated it much like you would a raised bed. Tin baths and buckets have also been used in the past; just insure they have good drainage by making a few holes in the bottom.  

Cheers 🍺