Flowering in April
Roses are at their peak now, so grasp the opportunity to get out in your garden and admire their beauty and scent. This means now is obviously the best time to visit open rose gardens, just to take in their beauty or perhaps sniff out a few new varieties for your own backyard! The Mt Cootha Botanical Gardens is home to a fantastic Rose Garden as well as New Farm Park. Meanwhile, now is the time to treat your roses for various fungal diseases such as black spot or powdery mildew. A simple recipe for this is to mix one part full-cream milk with nine parts water, spray the mixture over the foliage weekly or after rain.
Task for Autumn
April is a great month for planting container grown trees and shrubs into your garden. There should be plenty of time to get them established before the harsh, hot summer returns. In many area, seasonal rain makes conditions perfects for transplanting evergreen shrubs and lifting and dividing your perennials such as agapanthus, violets and bearded iris.
Seeding
In the shaded areas plant primroses, polyanthus and cineraria for touches of colour. Harvest the last of your summer vegies and get outside with some fresh soil, compost and manure to replenish the beds before replanting. Plant strawberries, peas, broad beans, silver beet, lettuce, spring onions and garlic.
Sweet peas are just as popular now as ever, plant seeds this month in a sunny corner of your yard. Well drained soil is essential with plenty of compost, manure and dolomite. If space is limited, there are dwarf sweet peas suitable for pots, check out the ‘Bijou’ variety.
Trim Them Short
Prune your buddleja, French lavender, geraniums, abelia, hebe and hedges this month. Deciduous fruit trees can be pruned once harvesting has ended . Add the cuttings, along with plentiful autumn leaves to your compost bin. Lawn clippings, shredded paper and non-meat kitchen scraps can also be added. to be tuned into nutritious, free fertiliser!