April is a lovely time for gardening in Aotearoa. With the days a little cooler, it’s a productive time to get back into the garden and start getting it ready for the much-anticipated winter rains.

Harvest time:

Beans (all types except broad beans), beetroot, broccoli, cabbages, carrots, cauliflowers, celery, courgettes, lettuces, marrows, parsnips, peas, pumpkins, tomatoes.

Sow:

Direct sow the seeds of cornflowers, sweet peas, alyssum, linaria, lobelia and Virginian stock. Also start sowing these winter veggies: broad beans, beetroot, celery, peas, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, spinach, onions, lettuce, garlic, leeks, parsnips and turnips, parsnips and parsley.

Plant:

Plant spring-flowering bulbs as soon as the weather has cooled. Plant out strawberry runners and cover the soil beneath the plants with a layer of straw to prevent the plants from rotting.

Feed:

Mow your lawn a little shorter and feed it with a potassium-rich fertiliser to strengthen it before the winter months.

Feed sweet peas with 2:3:2 to encourage healthy growth and abundant flowers in the months ahead. Pinch out side-shoots to encourage upward growth.Feed citrus trees with a handful of Magnesium Sulphate. Inspect the leaves carefully for signs of citrus psylla or scale; if you see traces, cover the affected leaves with a generous dose of McGregor’s Spraying Oil.

Prune and Divide:

Prune evergreen hedges, summer-flowering shrubs and overgrown climbers.

Deadhead your roses to encourage a final autumn flush.

Cut back dahlias to 20cm above soil level. Wait two weeks before lifting the bulbs and storing them in a cool, dry place. The bulbs can be replanted in August.