April’s weather was very changeable with sunshine and showers, but it was also cold with an easterly wind for most of the month – typical April conditions! Expect all kinds of weather during May – days can be warm but with much cooler night time temperatures. Watch out for late frosts.
As the season progresses pests such as slugs and snails will be at work in the garden.
We are asked by various environmental organisations not to think of slugs and snails as pests; and they certainly have a positive contribution to make.
For example slugs break down old plant material and rotting leaves and turn it into nitrogen rich fertiliser for the soil. Slugs are also a food source for birds, insects, small mammals and frogs.
Snails clear up debris and are the garden cleaners. But they can decimate all kinds of plants, they are able to glide effortlessly into shrubs and high into trees accessing new growth.
Protect young plants, Hosta’s and Dahlias. In the spirit of conservation don’t try to eradicate these gastropods, you’ll never get rid of them all anyway. Make it harder for these greedy feeders to access your plants using barriers and removing the slugs and snails to areas of the garden (not your next door neighbours) where they will do the least damage. To control numbers use organic methods readily available online or from garden centres. Always check for slugs and snails on your new plant purchases, as well as for the dreaded vine weevils – which are usually seen as grey mottled beetles (or white larvae around the roots of plants).
The show of daffodils, snowdrops, grape hyacinths, Forsythia and Kerria are making way for other flowering shrubs such as – Choisya (Mexican orange) the Ceanothus (Californian lilac – pictured above) and Genista (Broom) these can be seen in some of the open spaces and gardens around the Borough.
Roses and Wisteria are late to flower this year due to prolonged colder temperatures.
The wonderful Rosemary (pictured top) – one off the first shrubs into bloom this year (late January) and it shows no sign of stopping. If pruning is needed the best time to do this is after flowering. Keep the cuttings, tie them into bundles for drying. What would we do without Rosemary – a wonderful culinary herb, but valuable as a garden shrub for hardiness, for the aroma and its repeat flowering – bees love it too.
Early May is a good time to plan summer hanging basket displays, a useful addition to the garden or balcony and a way to introduce seasonal planting, especially if space is limited. A varied range of plants can be grown either annual flowers for show – or edibles such as strawberries, tumbling tomatoes and fragrant herbs like Basil.
