STIHL GB | STIHL April Garden Guide with Jane Moore | April Gardening Jobs | Sowing Seeds | STIHL GB @STIHLGB | Uploaded April 2023 | Updated October 2024, 9 hours ago.
We’re back with the latest instalment of the STIHL garden guide! This month, award-winning gardener, Jane Moore, showcases jobs to do in your garden in April in the STIHL April Garden Guide video.
🔶 Sowing Seeds
April is the month for sowing and planting which means it’s busy trying to fit it all in. This month, Jane is growing some of her favourite windowsill plants like chillies and peppers, as well as leafy vegetables and beans for her vegetable raised garden bed. She’s also sowing quite a few flowers to dot around the garden in any gaps. Some of them will be companion plants for the vegetables and some will be bee and butterfly friendly plants to bring in those pollinators.
It doesn’t matter whether you’re sowing vegetables or flowers, always follows the same simple pattern. A lot of people sow into a seed tray, but Jane prefers to use old bedding plant cells as they’re easy to manage. Also, once the seedlings get going, you don’t have to repot them straight away as they can keep on growing until they’re ready to be planted out. Simply fill the tray or plant pot with compost, then give it a little tap to settle the soil and a very light press with a tamper or just the flat of your hand. Then sow the seeds thinly.
For most seeds the lightest sprinkle of compost will do. People often make the mistake of covering seeds too heavily with compost, which means it's harder for the seedlings to fight their way out. To finish, give them a water and pop them into the propagator and put it on the windowsill.
🔶 Wildlife Watch
April is the time when the wildlife really gets going as all the little insects are laying their eggs so it’s the perfect time to hang up some bug boxes in and among those freshly pruned plants and in sheltered corners of the garden. You can quickly make these yourself by simply tying up some bundles of hollow stems with twine.
🔶 Planting
April is the perfect time for planting, especially long-term plants like shrubs and climbers. The soil is lovely and warm from the rising temperatures and moist from all the showers we’ve been getting.
If you leave planting any later, it’s far more likely to get hotter and dryer and that will stress the plant.
Planting in spring means the plant gets a chance to get its roots settled in this lovely warm soil, and it gets watered in by the April showers – which means us gardeners don’t need to worry. This month, Jane plants a Clematis plant in her garden; the Star of India is a great choice as it has lovely striped flowers.
First, dig a hole just big enough for the plant pot; make sure it’s not too deep or too shallow. Simply knock the plant out of its pot and tease out any of the roots. Place the plant in the hole and backfill with soil and firm it in. It’s really important that the plant’s roots make good contact with the soil.
Finally, water the plant in as it helps with that soil contact. Remember that all its nutrients and water will come from the soil so you don’t want any big air pockets, or the plant will die eventually. Don’t forget that you’ll need to keep on watering until it really gets established which means watering it all through the summer.
🔶 Feeding
In spring we all need a bit of a boost and April is a great time to give all your plants a feed of something like blood, fish and bone or another general-purpose fertiliser. Jane likes to use some chicken manure pellets which can be scattered around the base of the larger plants.
Feeding your plants isn’t essential, but, like us, they’ve just come out of a long winter and it will really get all your plants growing strongly as we head towards summer. Feed anything from hedges to roses and shrubs, but take care to keep it off the foliage or it might scorch the leaves. Ericaceous plants, things like Rhododendrons, Camellias and Pieris, are a bit different in their needs so you’ll want to use a special ericaceous fertiliser.
Finally, a top dress with a mulch will go a long way to getting your plants off to a good start this spring. You can buy bags of mulch like bark chips, farmyard manure or an eco-mulch that’s made from composted wood chip and bracken and things. Better still, use your own compost, if you can.
Let us know what jobs you’re completing in your garden in April in the comments and don’t forget to subscribe to the STIHL GB channel for more ideas in May.
🔶 STIHL Website: stihl.co.uk
🔶 Like us on Facebook: facebook.com/stihlgb
🔶 Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/stihl_gb
🔶 Follow us on Instagram: instagram.com/stihlgb
#STIHL #STIHLGB #AprilGardenGuide #GardenGuide #STIHLGardenGuide #JaneMoore #WildlifeWatch #PlantingShrubs #PlantingFlowers #PlantingPlants #SowingSeeds #SowingVegetables #SowingPlants #FeedingPlants
We’re back with the latest instalment of the STIHL garden guide! This month, award-winning gardener, Jane Moore, showcases jobs to do in your garden in April in the STIHL April Garden Guide video.
🔶 Sowing Seeds
April is the month for sowing and planting which means it’s busy trying to fit it all in. This month, Jane is growing some of her favourite windowsill plants like chillies and peppers, as well as leafy vegetables and beans for her vegetable raised garden bed. She’s also sowing quite a few flowers to dot around the garden in any gaps. Some of them will be companion plants for the vegetables and some will be bee and butterfly friendly plants to bring in those pollinators.
It doesn’t matter whether you’re sowing vegetables or flowers, always follows the same simple pattern. A lot of people sow into a seed tray, but Jane prefers to use old bedding plant cells as they’re easy to manage. Also, once the seedlings get going, you don’t have to repot them straight away as they can keep on growing until they’re ready to be planted out. Simply fill the tray or plant pot with compost, then give it a little tap to settle the soil and a very light press with a tamper or just the flat of your hand. Then sow the seeds thinly.
For most seeds the lightest sprinkle of compost will do. People often make the mistake of covering seeds too heavily with compost, which means it's harder for the seedlings to fight their way out. To finish, give them a water and pop them into the propagator and put it on the windowsill.
🔶 Wildlife Watch
April is the time when the wildlife really gets going as all the little insects are laying their eggs so it’s the perfect time to hang up some bug boxes in and among those freshly pruned plants and in sheltered corners of the garden. You can quickly make these yourself by simply tying up some bundles of hollow stems with twine.
🔶 Planting
April is the perfect time for planting, especially long-term plants like shrubs and climbers. The soil is lovely and warm from the rising temperatures and moist from all the showers we’ve been getting.
If you leave planting any later, it’s far more likely to get hotter and dryer and that will stress the plant.
Planting in spring means the plant gets a chance to get its roots settled in this lovely warm soil, and it gets watered in by the April showers – which means us gardeners don’t need to worry. This month, Jane plants a Clematis plant in her garden; the Star of India is a great choice as it has lovely striped flowers.
First, dig a hole just big enough for the plant pot; make sure it’s not too deep or too shallow. Simply knock the plant out of its pot and tease out any of the roots. Place the plant in the hole and backfill with soil and firm it in. It’s really important that the plant’s roots make good contact with the soil.
Finally, water the plant in as it helps with that soil contact. Remember that all its nutrients and water will come from the soil so you don’t want any big air pockets, or the plant will die eventually. Don’t forget that you’ll need to keep on watering until it really gets established which means watering it all through the summer.
🔶 Feeding
In spring we all need a bit of a boost and April is a great time to give all your plants a feed of something like blood, fish and bone or another general-purpose fertiliser. Jane likes to use some chicken manure pellets which can be scattered around the base of the larger plants.
Feeding your plants isn’t essential, but, like us, they’ve just come out of a long winter and it will really get all your plants growing strongly as we head towards summer. Feed anything from hedges to roses and shrubs, but take care to keep it off the foliage or it might scorch the leaves. Ericaceous plants, things like Rhododendrons, Camellias and Pieris, are a bit different in their needs so you’ll want to use a special ericaceous fertiliser.
Finally, a top dress with a mulch will go a long way to getting your plants off to a good start this spring. You can buy bags of mulch like bark chips, farmyard manure or an eco-mulch that’s made from composted wood chip and bracken and things. Better still, use your own compost, if you can.
Let us know what jobs you’re completing in your garden in April in the comments and don’t forget to subscribe to the STIHL GB channel for more ideas in May.
🔶 STIHL Website: stihl.co.uk
🔶 Like us on Facebook: facebook.com/stihlgb
🔶 Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/stihl_gb
🔶 Follow us on Instagram: instagram.com/stihlgb
#STIHL #STIHLGB #AprilGardenGuide #GardenGuide #STIHLGardenGuide #JaneMoore #WildlifeWatch #PlantingShrubs #PlantingFlowers #PlantingPlants #SowingSeeds #SowingVegetables #SowingPlants #FeedingPlants
