Head gardener Benjamin Pope and kitchen gardener Aaron Bertelsen are here to make sure your garden looks great all year round. Here are their choice of what to sow in the garden this month, from vegetables to flowers.
For more inspiration this month don't miss our gardening jobs for April, best flowers for April and April gardens to visit.
What to plant and sow in April
Spring is all about sowing seeds. As night temperatures can still drop below zero, it is wise to restrict outdoor sowing to hardy and half-hardy species. Annuals, such as Atriplex hortensis var. rubra, Calendula officinalis and Cerinthe major ‘Purpurascens’, are great for sowing directly into borders along with cornflowers, nigella and poppies. BP
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Broad beans, peas and mangetout can also be sown direct into the soil, although you may already have some growing from autumn sowings. I also like to grow some on in modules in early spring and plant them out now as I sow another row, guaranteeing a longer harvest. BP
Beetroot, carrots, radish and spring onion can also be sown, though it might be worth waiting until the end of the month to ensure soil temperatures and conditions are more favourable. Indoor sowing can include tender veg to plant out next month, such as French and runner beans, pumpkins and squashes. BP
Tender ornamentals that I sow every year indoors include Amaranthus caudatus ‘Dreadlocks’, Coreopsis ‘Roulette’, Tagetes ‘Cinnabar’ and Tithonia rotundifolia. Their vibrant hot colours work so well through summer in both the garden and a vase. BP
Swiss chard
There is virtually no time in the year when I do not have Swiss chard growing somewhere, whether in the garden itself or in a pot in the courtyard. But even this seemingly inexhaustible crop eventually runs out of steam, and this is the time to start over again. I sow my seeds under glass so that I can have decent-sized seedlings by planting time.
Prick out when the true leaves have formed, and plant out once they have reached a decent size – if you have sown in plug trays, look for roots coming out of the bottom of the plug – provided the weather is mild enough. Chard will grow happily in a large pot too. Just allow about 10cm between seedlings when planting out in a pot, or 15cm in the ground. Don’t be tempted to plant them closer as they are prone to mould. The other danger comes from slugs and snails, which love the tender young leaves, so add a sprinkle of slug pellets and keep the surrounding area free from weeds. Try ‘Peppermint’ with its candy-striped pink and white stems, or the aptly named ‘Pink Flamingo’, which contrasts stems of an eye-popping cerise with the darkest green glossy leaves. AB
