Digger Dan’s April Gardening Tips

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• Tags: Autumn, Digger Dan, fruit planting, Lawn Care, planting advice, Vegetable Gardening

The Fruit & Vegetable Garden

• Pull out spent tomatoes, bean vines and corn etc.
• Plant winter cabbages, caulis and other members of the Brassica family – it’s best to dig through Living Earth Compost to break up compacted soils and help retain moisture. Avoid high nitrogen fertilisers as they can encourage sappy, weak growth – good quality compost should provide much of the nutrient they need. However liquid fertiliser at planting and several weeks later is beneficial. Make sure you keep them protected against green looper caterpillars that can devastate young seedlings and maintain watering during dry periods.


Broad Beans

• Rooted Strawberry Runners – can be snipped away from the main plant and potted ready for planting in winter.
• Sow Broad Beans on Anzac Day – an Easter chore for this year.
• Black Aphids – on spring onions, leeks and chives – spray with Pyrethrum.
• Last Lettuces – plant seedlings of ‘Rouge d’hiver’, ‘Drunken Woman’, ‘Freckles’ and Cos – all lettuces that will acclimatise before the winter chill comes. Use slug bait and liquid compost.
• Plant blueberry bushes – yes as the season fades, there are plenty of healthyyoung blueberry plants in the garden centres now. Remember you need at least two different varieties together for best results. Try the Rabbit eye Varieties that require lower chilling over winter such as ‘Climax’, ‘Delite’ and ‘Rahi’.

The Rest of the Garden

• Weeding – the recent rain has helped loosen the soil around weeds, so now’s good for the autumn tidy-up.
• Composting – dig our Living Earth  Compost through the soil while it’s moist and water-logged.
• Planting – Autumn is nature’s planting time.
• Mulching – spread over the garden after weeding and planting to maintain warmth in the soil for longer. Try our Reharvest Coloured Mulches, Premium Mulch, Forest Floor Mulch or Bark Mulch.

The Lawn

• Fertilise with Turfmaster Gold to encourage strong growth.
• Spray weeds with a broad range weed killer to control broadleaf weeds.
• Scarify the lawn heavily to create a good seed bed about 3-4 weeks later.

Our Central Landscape & Garden Supplies Yards are open every day for all your Garden Projects. Come and see us for great advice and service! Don’t forget our great home delivery service or borrow our free loan trailers!

Call us on 0800 005444