As we enter April, everything starts to feel a bit more hopeful. The days are longer, the world looks greener, and if we keep our fingers crossed, hopefully the sun will come out to play too.

With spring finally arriving, it’s time to get back out into the garden and start tackling the jobs you’ve been putting off. April is a great time to take stock of what needs to be done to get the garden back in shape after winter, but it’s also the time to look ahead. Time spent wisely in the garden now will reap the benefits in months to come, and ensure you have a glorious garden over the summer months and beyond.

But, where to start? If you’re looking hopelessly at the weeds and overgrown beds wondering how on earth to turn your outdoor space into an oasis, then we’ve got some handy tips to help you get the most out of your garden this April.

Repair your lawn

If the winter’s left your grass looking a little lacklustre, then April is a great time to work on repairing it so it’ll soon be back to its verdant self. For any patchy areas, sow grass seeds now. Prepare the lawn by removing weeds and scarifying the soil to loosen it. Then, use a lawn feed to help promote grass growth. Once you’ve done this, it’s time to plant. Mow the grass, then moisten the soil and sprinkle the grass seed evenly. (You should aim for about 35g per square metre, however, for patchier areas you can apply 50g per square metre). Water your lawn after reseeding, and continue to mow as normal.

Tackle the weeds

It’s a gardening job nobody enjoys, but an essential one nonetheless, especially if you want to give your garden a fighting chance of blooming this year. Around this time of year, you’ll start to see dandelions springing up in your lawn, so it’s a good idea to tackle these now to avoid them taking over. The same goes for those pesky weeds that are in your borders and beds - left to their own devices, they’ll take over and hamper the chances of your budding plants flourishing, so pull them up now (make sure to get the root too).

Grow your greens

If you’ve been longing for your own supply of vegetables, then now’s the time to plant them up and make that dream a reality. If you’re growing summer vegetables from seed, then you’ll need to harden them off first, by gently introducing them to the outdoors and to sunlight. Try leaving them outside for short bursts of time, and eventually you can increase this to allow them to be outside day and night.

Let it sow

Now’s a great time to sow seeds, especially if you’re looking for some colour in the garden this summer. Direct sow wildflower mixes - they’re ideal for attracting bees and butterflies, and will give the garden a lovely variety of colours too. It’s also the time to sow hardy annuals (poppies, sunflowers and marigolds). Before you sow, prep your soil to make sure it’s well-conditioned and providing the best nutrients to your seeds.

Plant out sweet peas

If you sowed sweet pea seeds in autumn, then the likelihood is they’ll be ready to plant in the ground this month. You’ll need to be sure the last frost has passed, and that you’ve hardened the seedlings by introducing them to the outside, bit by bit for a couple of weeks before you plan to plant them. Once they’re good to go, choose a spot in full sun where they’ll thrive, and plant them about 20cm apart.

Set your sights on summer

Take advantage of the soil beginning to warm up, by planting some summer flowering bulbs this month. Gladioli, Cannas and Alliums can all be planted directly into the ground, and will make for an impressive display come summer. Group the bulbs together with at least six for maximum impact.

Back to the roots

April is the ideal month to plant trees and shrubs in the garden - planting in spring gives them a chance to grow and flourish during the summer months, and they’ll be better prepared for winter. If there’s any trees or shrubs that need a little relocation, now’s the time to consider doing this, too. Choose a cooler day to avoid the roots drying out, and be aware that it may take a little time for your plant to adjust to its new surroundings. Much like us, moving can be stressful, and plants can experience shock. Ensure that the soil is well watered before moving the plant, and afterwards continue to water thoroughly. It’s also a good idea to lay down a thick mulch of compost or bark to help conserve moisture.

Charlie Bond - Gardenscape's Constant Gardener

After a long slog with numerous delays, we are delighted to finally be moving staff into our new office building from the beginning of June. The building will house staff from 2 of the Bourne Group of companies, namely Gardenscape and John Bourne & Co. Bourne Amenity and Bourne Sport will remain in the original office building, which itself will soon undergo an internal renovation.

As most people are aware the cladding of the building was delayed substantially as we were unable to start until the Council had approved the material that we were using, and this took over 4 months. However, we have now finished the cladding and, as you can see from this photo, the scaffolding is now coming down. Once it is down the landscaping around the new building can begin. This will involve extensive ground level planting as well as the replacement of the hoarding with new gates and security fencing.

Our aim in regards to the landscaping is to soften the building within its surrounds. Once the scaffolding comes down you will notice that one part of the building has not been clad, specifically the top part of the wall facing the bridge. This is because we hope to install a living wall on that end. If we are able to do this then it will provide a beautiful aesthetic for people arriving into Newenden across the bridge from Sussex. The wall will offer year round interest, be beneficial to the environment and hopefully attract all sorts of insects and birds.

In addition we will be doing some work on the roof. Again with a view to softening the building, we plan to plant in a variety of irrigated planters. Due to the exposure to the elements at that height we will be limited in what can be planted up there, but we are working with experts who are advising us on what we can achieve.

Both the living wall and the roof planting require a further planning application. We will be submitting this soon after the scaffolding is down, when we can start working on the visuals that we will submit with our application. For this reason neither of these elements will happen immediately. Whilst we will again be at the mercy of the Planners timetable, we hope that this will be majority finished by the Autumn/Winter of this year.

We appreciate that this has been a long process, and we have been as frustrated by this as we know many local people have. However we are excited to be moving into the offices now, and look forward to the ongoing works to improve on the visual impact of the new building and its immediate environment.