I love April for those early Spring days when the sun is shining, you can listen to the birds singing and you can get out into your garden and enjoy the clean air.Paraic Horkan

April is finally here and now the clocks have gone forward we have an extra hour of gardening time to play with in the evening. It also heralds the start of the growing season as leaf buds and flowers burst into colour and the circle of life begins again.

Many of our Spring flowering plants including Snowy Mespilus or Amerlanchier, Forsythia and Blue Campanula  are in full flower at the moment and offering a stunning show of colour.

April is the ideal month to get a head start on summer colour. Hanging baskets, window boxes and patio plants can be planted this month with summer flowering favourites including Red Geraniums, Trailing Petunias, White Bacopa, Osteospernums and Trailing Lobelias. Geraniums are one of the very best summer flowering plants to add colour and interest to a wide range of pots and containers and are ideal for planting out into flower borders in early summer when the risk of frost has ended.

PHOTO BY NEEBONG

Spring temperatures make for perfect seed sowing conditions out of doors. Many of the Summer flowering border plants can be sown from seed, simply scattered onto virgin soil. Easy flowers are ideal for such direct sowings. Simply rake the soil, add some compost and sprinkle the Easy flowers onto the soil. Then sit back and watch the summer colours unfold to a wonderful blaze of colour. Easy flowers are ideal to add summer colour to flower borders, in between shrubs and are perfect for patio pots and containers.

April is also the ideal time to sow a new lawn or to repair damaged or weak areas in your existing lawn. Simply rake the area to scuffle the soil, add some Park & Fairway Fertiliser and sow a handful of Green Velvet Lawn Seed to the area. New lawns sown during April will make a strong lush green lawn by mid summer.

PARAIC USING ZERO

If you didn’t get around to feeding your lawn yet, then do it this weekend. The first step in creating a rich green lawn is to apply a dressing of Zero Lawn Liquid. Zero will kill unwanted lawn moss and encourage a rich green colour to your lawn. Simply apply Zero through a watering can or sprayer. Follow up with a dressing of  Osmo Lawn Fertiliser which strengthens your lawn and creates a rich green colour without forcing growth. Osmo is a slow released lawn fertiliser which is easy to apply and works over a long period.

Now is the time to sow your Summer flowering plants for use as cut flowers. You can  choose some half hardy annuals from the Suttons Flower Collection and flowering plants that produce a long stem ideal for cutting, including Asters, Garden Mums and Sunflowers. Make sure the area you are planting the seeds in is clear of weeds and is raked level. Water the area to be planted, sow the seeds thinly and lightly cover the area with a thin layer of soil or compost.

With all the lovely new growth in the garden this April, don’t forget to protect your plants from slugs and snails. Organic Slug control  is an effective way to treat slugs hiding below the soil or alternatively traditional Slug & Snail Pellets can be sprinkled on the surface of the soil.

Suttons Vegetable Seed Tapes are a brilliant method for making life easy in the vegetable garden this spring. Suttons have selected a range of vegetable seeds and herbs and placed them in a special tape that you simply roll out onto the soil and cover over with fresh soil. Vegetable Seed Tapes contain pre-spaced seeds in a tape. Just prepare the soil, draw out a groove and roll out your tape. The vegetable seed tapes are biodegradable so will not cause any damage to the plant. Vegetables available on seed tapes include Rocket, Spring Onions, Parsnips and Breakfast Radish with many more varieties available from Horkans.

If you are thinking of completing a new garden project this spring – maybe a new hedge, shrub border, pond or a cottage garden border, then contact the Horkans team in store and ask about our Dream Gardening Steps Support. Our qualified team will help you design your perfect garden project this Spring. We can show you some great garden makeovers we have recently completed and give you great ideas and help on completing your garden project for Spring or summer. Drop Paraic an email on [email protected] for more details.

Confirmation and Communions are a key celebration for many families during April and May and what better way to entertain and feed your family and friends than a garden barbeque. Here at Horkans we have some brilliant all weather outdoor garden furniture sets and quality gas barbeques. My favourites include the Dante 3 Burner Barbeque which is a quality gas barbeque. This attractive barbeque is packed with extensive features including porcelain coated steel grills and three large gas burners and would make the perfect accoutrement to cook up a wide range of great tasting home cooked dishes for all those special family occasions. I think the Dante 3 Burner Barbeque is a quality barbeque for a great price.

To complete the effect take a look at the stylish Kildare Hardwood Patio Set. This is a lovely quality hardwood outdoor furniture garden set and is perfect for all family occasions plus the table and chairs fold away for easy and neat storage.

Make sure you create the opportunity to enjoy some great family entertainment this spring and summer in your