When the team at Careclean Essex aren’t cleaning carpets, we love to do a spot of gardening, so we thought we’d take a break from the cleaning tips today, and pass on some of our gardening knowledge instead! Read on to hear our April gardening tips…

April gardening – why is this a good month?

For many gardeners April is their favourite month. Spring flowers are often at their best, summer bedding plants are on sale, and plants in the border seem to grow by the day. The longer days not only benefit the plants, they also provide opportunities for the gardener to work in and enjoy the garden.   The rapid plant growth this month means it is one of the busiest months of the year in the garden.

So first things first, let’s prep!

• Dead Heading – Remove all faded flowers from your daffodils, pansies & violas. Let your daffodils die back naturally so they put energy back into the bulbs. This way, next year your daffodils will produce a better display!
• Damaged Foliage – Remove any yellowing or damaged foliage from plants to prevent disease.
• Weed Control – Hand dig out weeds from your borders before they get out of control; once you’ve done this, you will only need to re-do this occasionally throughout the season. To suppress weeds add a mulch to your borders or better still plant lots of ground cover plants (your local garden centre will be able to point these out if you are unsure on what to choose!).

Let’s get planting!

• What To Plant – This month plant biennials, sweet peas, and dahlia tubers are all good options. PLEASE NOTE: most potted plants, trees, and shrubs can be planted at just about anytime of the year. However, Spring and Autumn are really the best times to plant. If you see something you like then buy it and plant it now. Buy a plant with an information tab and follow the instructions carefully.
• Sowing Seeds – Sow half-hardy annual summer bedding plants.
• Summer Hanging baskets – If you have a greenhouse, start to make up your hanging baskets this month.
• Stake your plants – Stake your plants that will grow tall this spring and summer; this will prevent them being damaged or blown down by windy weather. Plants to stake include: Delphinium, Lupin, Foxglove, monks hood and Oriental Poppies.

We hope the above tips are useful and get your April gardening off to a great start!

Want More Tips Like This?
Careclean was established in 1984 and has a vast knowledge of carpet and upholstery cleaning and maintenance. We post a weekly blog, which often includes carpet and upholstery cleaning tips and guidance on keeping your home clean and healthy. Click here to check out our blog. You can also follow us on Twitter and Facebook to keep up to date on all the latest news and offers.