April in the garden is one of the nicest months of the year. There is fresh growth everywhere after the long winter months. Shrubs and trees are taking on their mantle of green and everyone is busy out on the farms.

There’s tilling and sowing to be done. Baby calves and lambs need minding. Even the wild birds spend all day building their nests and feeding their young.

Here in our garden we got the tilling done. Then the sowing started, with early potatoes the first to be planted. We got them set during the last week in March. Peas were sown as well, and the first drill is already up and looking well. The mild weather with very little frost really suited them.

The winter onion sets and shallots were also sown and are well budded now. The planting of cauliflower and golden acre cabbage was done in the second week of April. They were covered with netting to save them from the pigeons.

In the flower garden, we had a great showing of daffodils and tulips. Planting lots of these bulbs is a great way to add colour to your garden. And they have the added bonus of reappearing year after year.

After the bare winter months, the summer flower plants will soon be ready to plant out. We collect most of the seeds from ripe seed heads.

This is a good time to lift snowdrops for re-sowing before they disappear back into the soil for another year. A clump of about six bulbs is perfectly normal to sow, as they will soon spread. They are well worth the trouble, as you need lots of clumps for a good display.

Our tomato plants are doing well. We will soon be able to plant them out in the glasshouse. But we need to get everything ready for them first. All the pot plants need to be cleared out. The frost protection screen needs to be removed and put away, as plenty of light is needed to get the young plants going.

April is one of the busiest months of the year – but well worth the little effort.