Today’s post features some seasonal gardening tips for April: the month of sunshine, showers, tulips and cherry blossom!

The seasonal gardening tips are provided by Sarah Clapham, a Bishopston mum of two and gardener who shares her gardening advice every month on Bishopston Mum.

Sarah’s monthly tips will be helpful whether you have a garden or an allotment, wish to do some pot or window sill gardening or simply want to know what to look out for/listen to every month when you are out and about with your children.

Here are Sarah’s seasonal gardening tips for April. She talks about seeds to sow, things to grow, plus some wonderful things to look out for this month with your kids such as butterflies and bumble bees! 

Enjoy…

Things for you and your children to look at/listen for when you are out and about…

• Crab Apple blossom
• Flowering Cherries
• Tulips
• Bumble bees will be starting to buzz around in April
• The sound of bird song
• Birds finding material to build their nests
• Butterflies: Peacock, Small Tortoiseshell, Red Admiral, Brimstone and Comma (you can find Comma butterflies in Gaston Lane – see photo above!).

General garden jobs…

Keep on top of the weeds because they will really get going this month due to the rain and the milder temperature.

Start mowing the lawn if dry enough.

Plant perennial plants.

Plant out some Summer flowering bulbs – this is a great thing to do as it is nice and easy.

On the vegetable patch…

Towards the end of this month start sowing seeds in the ground.

Most vegetables seeds can go in the ground in April, for example, beetroot, chard and carrots. To do this you need to prepare a fine seed bed, creating a fine soil ready for the seeds.

Get your seed potatoes in the ground now it is starting to warm out.

Radishes grow quite quickly and are a really quick win as they grow incredibly fast which is very satisfying. These can also be grown on your windowsill.

Indoors…

I grow quite a lot of plants indoors from seeds, for example, courgettes, lettuce, pumpkins, squash and runner beans. These can all easily get eaten so it is quite useful to grow these indoors so that they get to a good size before they go outside, thus being less likely to be eaten by slugs and snails.

Any seedlings that are getting quite big (past two first leaves) can be put in a larger pot – this is called “potting on”. Prick out seedlings into a good quality compost that will give the growing plant all the nutrients it needs (this is in preparation for planting out into your garden or allotment when the soil is warm enough and the plant is big and strong).

Lettuce, salad, herbs and pea shoots are all great to grow in a warm sunny place indoors in April with your kids!

Here’s something that’s really good to eat now: purple sprouting broccoli and rhubarb – both just coming into season – fresh Spring ingredients! These are in season in this country now so these might be ready in your veggie plot or in shops available to buy in shops.