Monthly guide to April's produce featuring Monty's tips and suggestions
As the chill of winter begins to recede, April is the perfect time to kickstart your vegetable patch, following advice from Monty Don and other gardening experts on Gardeners' World. This month marks the beginning of fruit and vegetable jobs, with a focus on starting tender vegetables indoors and preparing the ground for outdoor sowing.
For tender vegetables like celery and osteospermum, it's best to sow seeds indoors between mid-March and early April in seed trays or modules. These plants need a long growing season and protection from cold, so starting them early indoors gives them a head start. Once the seedlings have developed their first true leaves, they can be pricked out into small pots, ready for transplanting after the frost danger has passed, usually late April to early June.
When transplanting seedlings outside, it's essential to harden them off gradually by exposing them to outdoor conditions over 7–10 days before planting. This process helps the plants adjust to the change in temperature and light conditions.
Soil preparation is crucial for crops like celery. A sunny site with fertile, moisture-retentive soil is ideal. Enrich the ground with well-rotted manure or compost before sowing or planting. For those who prefer no-dig methods, applying a good mulch can help improve soil moisture retention.
Tender vegetables require regular watering, especially as temperatures rise, to avoid stress. Use all-purpose liquid fertilizer every couple of weeks to encourage healthy growth.
Protecting young plants from late cold snaps is also vital. Cloches or fleece can be used to shield tender crops from potential damage.
For a continuous supply of certain vegetables, succession sowing is recommended. For example, turnip seeds can be sown early in the year (February-April) with protection, continuing into June. This overlapped sowing ensures continuous harvests.
The collection of Gardeners' World clips also covers mixing edible and ornamental plants, laying out vegetable beds, and sowing tender veg towards the end of April. Monty Don also offers tips on reducing plastic use when sowing vegetables, and 'Uchiki Kuri' squash can be sown at this time.
Vegetable beds can be laid out using bamboo canes and twine, providing support for climbing plants and making it easier to manage the plot.
In summary, April is ideal for starting tender vegetables indoors and transplanting them outdoors after frost threats. Proper seed starting, soil preparation, watering, feeding, and frost protection are essential tips from Gardeners’ World and allied gardening experts to ensure a successful harvest.
emotions flourish alongside new growth in home-and-garden ventures as April arrives, serving as an opportune time to cultivate the home lifestyle by nurturing tender vegetables indoors or preparing garden beds for outdoor sowing, following advice from gardening experts on Gardeners' World. For instance, osteospermum plants, like tender vegetables, require early indoor sowing in seed trays or modules between mid-March and early April.
