Though we are now into Spring there is still the risk of frosts and at the time of writing we have just heard that the temperature will drop to 5 Centigrade tonight and a ground frost! Therefore, tender, early-flowering, plants, should be protected by covering using hessian or fleece. Do not use polythene, it can make matters worse!
Now is the time to start pruning your shrubs to keep them in hand and to stimulate new growth. Now where did I leave my secateurs? Yes and I should have oiled the blades before I put them away.
Whilst in the mood, dead head your daffodils, leaving the stems and leaves to channel energy into the bulbs for flowers for next season. Interestingly a lot of my daffodils have had very few flowers this year and having had a peek I have got a lot of small bulbs, so these will need to be split up to allow the bulbs to reach flowering size.
In order to get more of those pent up energies start working compost into borders and between the shrubs, getting ready for planting out summer bedding in May.
You should think about starting to fertilise your garden as nutrients will normally have been washed away over the winter. However with the dry winter down south and general warnings about water shortage there may well still be a fair amount left, not having been washed out. Therefore a little and often to see how it goes, there is no point of overfeeding which will just create vegetative and sappy/leggy growth.
A general fertiliser will be good, but not too much nitrogen, especially on lawns or you will be spending the summer behind a lawn mower, could be a bonus, it will keep you fit, garden aerobics. A high nitrogen feed will make them look greener and this is the standard advice for the end of April.
Plants in pots, planters etc do need plenty of fertiliser and water, especially during warm weather.
Harden off spring plug plants carefully especially if you buy them in and don’t grow your own.
When choosing plants for your garden you can also do your bit for the environment. Butterflies and other insects feed on their nectar and pollen so choose wisely. The following plants are recognised as being particular attractive: aster, bedding dahlias, Buddleia, marigold, ivy, rudbeckia, lobelia, lavender, marjoram, mint, verbena and zinnia.