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Your guest editor

There’s plenty to love this month, as Alan

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Contents

We love... 8 We love April 16 Expert’s

Dear subscriber

We’re getting to the good bit, as our

We love April

PHOTO: SARAH CUTTLE This month marks the first

Expert’s choice

Flamed tulips

The Full Monty

Gardens seem to grow imperceptibly, but when we look back we are amazed at how much has changed. Make sure you enjoy that journey,

Have your say

The view from your side of the fence

Over the fence

Is there a place for fake plants in the garden?

Digging deeper

Putting the spotlight on the biggest issues in gardening todayl

2 for 1 Gardens

Wish you were here…

Container of the month

Acid-green euphorbia and Erysimum ‘Bowles’s Mauve’ can’t be beaten for zingy spring colour

More container inspiration

Plant a trio of eye-catching pots for spring colour, perfect for small spaces

30 perennial plants

This generous collection of perennials will bring colour to your borders year after year. Specially selected to flower in succession from late spring to autumn, your garden will always look its best for the entire growing season. Plants supplied as plugs.

Explore the gardens of Kent and Sussex

EXCLUSIVE TOUR FOR GW READERS

Enjoy a luxury gardens and gourmet stay in Yorkshire

EXCLUSIVE MINI-BREAK DISCOUNT

Daphne bholua ‘Mary Rose’

Offer of the month

Ferns for shady spots

SET OF THREE Blechnum spicant Dryopteris erythrosora Asplenium

Marvellous miniature rose

HALF PRICE

Camellia rosthorniana ‘Elina’

This month’s suggestion for growing something different is…

Spring makes

Celebrate spring with beautiful DIY floral displays using a range of upcycled containers and some of the season’s prettiest flowers. Shilpa Reddy shows how with four easy projects

Summer garden style

Follow our guide and shop the look to create an inviting outdoor living area, an on-trend dining and bar zone, plus space for family fun

An edible garden in pots

Follow Lucy Bellamy’s guide as she shows you how to create a cross-seasonal edible container garden using fruits, vegetables, salads and herbs

A taste of the tropics

With tree ferns and other exotic plants making an impact at Longmeadow, Monty reveals which varieties to combine for a tropical look at the height of summer

WIN your dream holiday

Gardens of the Year COMPETITION 2024

Secrets of a COLOURFUL GARDEN

To create a border that sparkles through every season you just need the right components,

The happy house plant guide

Part 5: Repotting

YOUR PRUNING MONTH

Keep your star jasmine and others looking tip top with head gardener Tom Brown’s easy pruning guide

GROW WITH GAZ

The greenhouse Gaz built with his dad allows earlier sowings, so more crops are ready to plant out in May

Late-sown tomatoes

Worried you’ve left it too late to sow your tomatoes? Rosie Yeomans puts classic cherry, salad and beefsteaks to the test, and finds sowings from now are worthwhile

Hassle -free harvests

April means it’s time for a final harvest of last year’s crops – and to get planting lots more for this year, says Jack Wallington

Wisteria Amethyst Falls

BUY 2 FOR JUST £32 EACH A welcome

Growing guide

April

THUNBERGIA SUNNY SUSY COLLECTIONS

STUNNING CLIMBING DISPLAY This mix of five super-bright

MIX & MATCH PERENNIALS

Delphinium Magic Excelsior Mixed Choose from the following

Cultivating garden know -how

at Beaulieu, Hampshire 3-5 May 2024 LAST CHANCE

ERYSIMUM COLLECTION

Erysimum Winter Orchid These perennial wallflowers are similar

SAVE AN EXTRA 10% ON SALE PRICES

Boost your planting schemes for less with this fantastic offer from Farmer Gracy. Whether your garden is traditional or contemporary, you’ll find varieties to suit all styles and ensure every border and pot is brimming with colour. Choose from Farmer Gracy’s entire range of summer bulbs and perennials, and enjoy an extra 10% saving on sale prices!

DELICIOUS VEGETABLE PLANTS

Chilli pepper ‘Quickfire’ These expertly grown vegetable plants

Your wildlife month

Our gardens should be a riot of chirping

WHAT TO DO NOW

50 things to do this month from the Gardeners’ World team

Thin out hemerocallis

Pinch out weak growth from the clump centre

Fork over and weed borders

Forking through soil will relieve compaction, allow rain

STEP BY STEP Sharpening shears

Sharpen the blades of your shears so they

STEP BY STEP

Sow gaps in lawns

Plant nerines in pots

Plant nerine bulbs in containers so they can

Remove old grow th from pond plants

Clear your pond now to give it a

Don’t forget

Give lawns a spring feed to encourage strong,

Create more wildlife homes

Make new shelters in your garden to attract

Add foliage to shaded spots

Large-leaved plants such as bergenias and hostas will

Beechgrove Garden

BEECHGROVE’S BACK A new series of Beechgrove Garden

Protect young plants from frost

VIEW FROM BEECHGROVE

Don’t forget

Mulch currants and gooseberries with a 5cm layer

Grow your FREE seeds

Your April edition of GW came with FREE

Harden off dahlias during the day

Gradually expose potted dahlias to lower temperatures before

Deadhead spring bulbs

Removing dead heads of daffodils ensures the plant’s

Erect supports for climbers

Tie support structures tightly at the top with

Train sweet peas

Once you have plant supports in place, tie

Plant Asiatic lilies

Asiatic lilies need to be planted at three

10 MINUTES TO SPARE

Use shears to cut back stems of winter-flowering

Move seedlings into bigger pots

Prick out only the healthiest-looking seedlings in the

Plant a bed of asparagus

Patience pays off well when it comes to

Scented Pelargonium

Head back to Victorian times with the latest breeding of scented geraniums.

STEP BY STEP Take begonia leaf petiole cuttings

1 2 3 4 Propagate begonias by making

TOP TIP

The risk of frost will soon be over

Pot up chillies

To avoid damage hold seedlings by the leaves,

STEP BY STEP

Repot amaryllis Repot amaryllis now they have finished

Plant ginger

Now is a good time to start if

Sow cucumber seeds

Always press cucumber seeds into the compost on

Don’t forget

Introduce biological controls if the whitefly population is

Striking flamingo willow tree

Known as the ‘flamingo willow’, Salix integra ‘Hakuro-nishiki’

Start beans in pots under cover

Keep pots somewhere warmish with enough light for

Harvest rhubarb

Select medium-thickness stems so thinner ones can develop

Don’t forget

Finish planting all new fruit bushes Sow Brussels

STEP BY STEP

Sow peas Most soils will now be warm

Plant strawberries

With the soil warmer and days now that

Transplant chard

Pot up seedlings from coir pellets or modules

Plant maincrop potato tubers

Space tubers generously for a bigger crop from

Next month

WORDS: ROSIE YEOMANS PHOTOS: SARAH CUTTLE; JASON INGRAM

STEP BY STEP Thin out seedlings

Seedlings of leafy crops need space, so thin

Your questions answered Q&A

Blackcurrant big bud This month 158 Gardeners’ Question

Gardeners’ Question Time

Our experts tackle your queries, including an over-large acer, magnolias on the move and a nectarine that won’t hold its fruit

Crossword

Put down your trowel, pick up a pen and exercise those brain muscles instead…

NEXT month...

May issue on sale 11 April

Tales from Titchmarsh

It’s not the number of new trees we plant in this country that matters – it’s how many are still there 10 years later, says Alan