It’s nice to see the shift in seasons starting to take effect with the leaves beginning to change and fall, and the temperatures prompting a gentle rub of the hands as you walk outside in the morning. Plus—the smell of freshly baked hot cross buns and the delight of children hunting Easter eggs in the garden during the holidays. What more could you ask for?
I do love this time of year, which just seems to have a general garden feel all of its own. It’s also an easy time of year to let things lapse as growth dies off and regular maintenance is viewed as less essential. But I would suggest you try and keep a regular, albeit more relaxed, maintenance schedule right through to winter if you can, as it will make life in the garden much less of an effort, in general as well as in spring.
Lawns and hedges can still be cut on a semi-regular basis to maintain good health and form. Growth will start to ease off a little bit, if it hasn’t already, which leaves room for weeds to gain hold, particularly in your lawn. These should be dealt with as soon as possible with an autumn lawn weed and feed, which will have the added benefit of boosting the strength of your lawn before the colder months are upon us and the winter weeds try their best to take over.
Clearing up areas of the garden is also a good idea in April, as the addition of falling leaves can really leave a bit of a mess around the place if not attended to. Coupled with all that spent spring and summer growth, the garden has the capacity to look somewhat unruly this time of the year, straggly at best, and it can create quite the build-up of unsightliness if left to its own devices. Trees and shrubs can be given a general prune and tidy up over the next month or two, hedges clipped to maintain shape and form and a general feed all round to have everything as strong and healthy as it can be before winter sets in.
Lastly, as the leaves on deciduous trees begin to fall, keep an eye out for any signs of damage or disease on your larger trees. Anything that can affect the overall health of a tree should be dealt with as soon as it’s discovered. It’s possible to leave deciduous trees until they lose their canopy, but something spotted early shouldn’t be overlooked for too long. As well, you can tackle any safety concerns you may have with the larger tree specimens around your home.
But, for now, enjoy the cool change in the garden before bedding everything in for the much colder weather to come.
April jobs to do now:
- Feed lawns
- Clip hedges and topiary
- Divide perennials
- Tidy up garden beds
