Things to do this month - by LoveTheGarden
Don’t overdo it this month. Take your time and concentrate on the most important jobs and the ones you enjoy doing most.
- Sow seeds of all your favourite annual bedding plants for a summer of wonderful colour.
- If you don’t have much success with seeds, it’s better to buy plug plants and seedlings for growing on.
- Buy pansy, primrose and polyanthus plants plus potted spring bulbs for some instant colour.
- If you spend a lot of time watering in summer, consider installing an automatic drip watering system.
- Start sowing vegetable seeds outside in the ground.
- Sow tomatoes, sweet and chilli peppers, cucumbers and aubergines indoors with warmth.
- Mulch the soil around trees and shrubs with a 5-7.5cm (2-3in) thick mulch.
- Prune summer- and autumn-flowering clematis. Leave spring-flowering clematis until after they’ve finished flowering.
- Prune bush - hybrid tea and floribunda - roses.
- Prune summer-flowering deciduous shrubs, such as Buddleja, Caryopteris, lavender, Lavatera and Perovskia.
- Remove suckers from plants that are grafted onto a rootstock as soon as you see them.
- Continue to feed garden birds - as they get into the breeding season they will need lots of food.
- Put out suitable food for hedgehogs as they emerge from their winter hibernation.
- Feed all your garden plants with a suitable plant food as they come into growth.
- Stock up your borders with new shrubs and herbaceous perennials.
- Buy summer-flowering bulbs, such as begonias, dahlias, gladioli and lilies.
- Put plant supports in place around herbaceous perennials that start into growth early in the year.
- Deadhead daffodils and other bulbs when the flowers fade and give them a liquid feed.
- Tie in the shoots of climbers as they grow, spreading them out evenly over their support.
- Make garden compost to produce your own soil improver and mulching material.
- Start stocking ponds with new plants.
- Feed fish regularly as the water warms up and they become more active.
- Keep hoe blades sharp to make weeding quicker and easier.
- Clean secateurs blades after use to help prevent spreading diseases between plants.
- Take stem cuttings of half-hardy perennials and patio plants, such as fuchsias and pelargoniums.
- Make sure you grow plants that are beneficial to butterflies, bees and other garden-friendly insects.
- Sow hardy annual seeds outside for an inexpensive way to produce lots of flowers.
- Start feeding lawns with a granular lawn food.
- Rake out dead grass and other debris (thatch) with a spring-tine rake to improve conditions for grass growth.
- Re-cut lawn edges with a half moon edging iron to give them a crisp and even look.
- Treat weeds and moss growing in the lawn with a product suitable for lawns.
- Mow lawns regularly as and when the grass is growing.
- Repair damaged and bare areas with fresh grass seed.
- Overseeding the lawn with new grass seed will help thicken it up and produce a darker green colour.
- Hoe annual weeds regularly to stop them becoming established.
- Treat perennial weeds with a systemic weedkiller containing glyphosate.
- Check plants regularly for pests and diseases and deal with them promptly to prevent them becoming a problem.
- Protect all susceptible plants from slug and snail damage.