April in the garden

Quote of the month:

‘Man was lost and saved in a garden’ – Blaise Pascal

If March gives rise to the glimmer of hope of things to come then April is like a snow ball heading down hill gaining momentum and getting larger and nothing will stop it when it gets too big, gardening is like that too! There are suddenly plants and flowers everywhere all the bulbs are beginning to flower but now trees, shrubs, perennials and later flowering bulbs and corms are making their presence felt with brown earthy borders suddenly looking green and full, while I’m talking about early colour people do sometimes say to me at this time of year why aren’t there more flowers around where’s all the colour!! Colour I say are you blind there is colour all around you maybe not in flower power alone but all the different shades of green are amazing and fresh with every texture and type of foliage imaginable, a famous gardener said once ‘green is the most important colour in my garden’ and I couldn’t agree more.

Plants are carefully thought about at the salutation and the flower is only part of the story, a early flowering tree or shrub will possibly become a climbing frame for something later or it may be a foil for something flowering near it to make the eye see the colours better, foliage can be striking and very useful in all seasons. But all this talk of foliage might make you think of creating one of those hideous low maintenance gardens with plants for foliage and mostly evergreens, don’t do it remember the old saying of not to over egg the pudding ! low maintenance gardens can be achieved and still be seasonally interesting, we call our foliage or evergreen anchor plants our ‘specials’ they form a framework of interest throughout the year and the ‘specials’ change with the seasons many trees and shrubs go unnoticed until they suddenly stop you in your tracks with a delicious scent or amazing flowers or profusion of flowers, but their delight often comes because they are fleeting… that then means you look forward to the plants return to the centre stage the following season.

April is my favourite month of the year for gardening the days are warm and getting longer, plants sown from seed are growing well but mostly I love April because after the sluggishness of the winter there is a real sense of urgency… its deeply rooted in my own body’s rhythm telling me to get a move on before the winter arrives again.

Plants of interest this month:

• Anemone Blanda
• Fritillaria imperialis lutea maxima
• Magnolia ‘Kobus’
• Lunaria annua

Our many different species and variety’s of Narcissus plus so many other plants.

Steve