Garden Notes for April 2026

April is the time to get seeds going where you can give them a bit of warmth (for the chill evenings) and shelter. Sow tomatoes for outdoor growing; complete your sowings of half-hardy annuals (nicotiniana, mimulus, and antirrhinum for example).

Complete sowings of early potatoes. It is also time to sow celery for planting out in June (if you have been able to solve the problem of slugs!). As always good hygiene, strong plants and a gardener’s eye to spot infestations are best practice

Keep up fortnightly sowings of lettuce in order to maintain a succession. Radishes can be sown. Soil should be pulled up on either side of broad beans to help keep them stable. Winter greens such as January King, Savoy cabbage and broccoli should all be sown from the middle of the month onwards.

As daffodil and other bulbs finish flowering remove the dead flowers as this prevents seed formation and diverts more energy into the growth of the bulbs.

If you want to grow exhibition size carrots, one tip is to drill the seed in small clumps along a given row with about 15 cm spacing.  When the seedlings develop carefully pull out the excess and just leave a single plant to grow. That way they will grow long and straight without getting tangled in the roots of other carrots.

In the last week of April when the weather (hopefully) is warming up those of you with water gardens can start to plant up water lilies and other kinds of the hardier aquatic plants.

Do remember that early morning frosts are a real danger all through April and May, it is not until June, and even then it can be a bit dicey for the first week! that it is safe to put out any vulnerable plants – unless you can protect them at night.

Leave a can of water in the greenhouse to warm up before you water, this will reduce plants getting a shock from icy cold water.  If you are sowing fine seeds (like nicotinia) – water the compost first. This avoids washing the seed deep into it.

Divide chives or mint if they are crowded (dispose of the roots carefully, they are invasive). You should finish planting main crop potatoes, and earth up any early growth. Frost is still a clear and present danger!

In unheated greenhouses sow Brussels sprouts, calabrese, summer cauliflower, kale and lettuce. In outdoor beds you can sow broad bean, beetroot, early carrots, chard, kohl rabi, parsnips, peas, radish, spinach, spring onion and turnips. Plant out onion sets. Peas can be started in a length of guttering in the greenhouse. When the seedlings are ready to go out, the compost will be held together by their roots and the whole row can then be slid into position.

Don’t forget the Spring Show which is on the Sunday after Easter (12^th April).

Garden notes for March 2026

The wet, cold weather in early February is a sharp reminder that the South of England is not the Mediterranean despite what all the TV experts say, so you may find that some of your more tender plants may not have survived unless you had sufficient protection in place before the blizzard struck!

Multiply your snowdrops by lifting and dividing them as soon as possible after flowering, they are best transplanted when green.  It also helps encourage flowering as the clumps may become overcrowded if they are not split every 3 –4 years.

Hopefully we will get some drying weather, and the lawn will need a trim with the mower set high for the first cut.  Towards the end of the month most lawns will benefit from a moss raking using a scarifier if you have a larger area to do.  These can be hired from Hire Shops (one in Dorking) but you may well have to book it in advance as the weekends are popular.

Roses will need pruning towards the middle to end of the month, depending on the weather and if there are still severe frosts around.  The earlier you do it, the earlier the first blooms will appear, but you can also lose all the flower buds if you do not leave at least 3 from the base stem.  Give them a feed with a special rose fertiliser and they will reward you later for this generosity.

Start leeks under glass for pricking out and transplanting at the end of the month.  They are easy to grow and would save you the £10 for 40 plants a garden centre could charge.

Salad crops such as lettuce can be started for transplanting once they have established themselves.  Put them into the soil that you have warmed up under cloches or fleece.

Pansies and violas can be sown now for a show later in the summer.

You should get your seed potatoes ‘chitted’, by putting them in egg trays in a frost free place and exposing them to light to get the first shoots greened up.  If you are daring, plant early varieties of potato but be sure to keep an eye out for frost warnings and cover any leaf shoots before the frost comes down.

Later in the month, watch out for slug and snail damage on emerging plants.  This can be particularly damaging as the creatures are very hungry after the winter and are attracted to plants like delphiniums and hostas.

Cuttings of delphinium can be taken and rooted in potting compost under glass to have them flowering much later than the usual June burst.

Get sets of onions for planting out as soon as the soil condition is right.  When you do plant them out, protect them from Jackdaws who take delight in pulling them out and throwing them around.  Field mice can also be a problem.

Remember the Spring Flower Show which will be held in the Village Hall on Sunday 12th  April.  All the usual classes will apply and a free Schedule will soon be appearing.  You will be able to get them from Carters, Capel Newsagents or from any Committee Member.

Garden Notes for February 2026

If the weather allows, try to get the seed beds dug over early in the month as the frosty mornings will help make a good ‘tilth’ for the young seeds.  But only do your digging when there is no frost and it is dry enough to fall off the end of the spade – otherwise it will do no good at all. Always try to dig in good humus. Some people say that incorporating coarse grit will improve our clay soil by improving the drainage.

In February, if you have well sheltered places why not try some early broad beans, spaced at 20 cm. Young carrots are one of the joys of the garden, try sowing some ‘Nantes 5’ or ‘Amsterdam Forcing’. All the big seed-houses do packs of salad leaves, and these can be grown after starting under glass, since they need a bit more heat than the other crops I have mentioned. Mini-lettuces like ‘Little Gem’ and ‘Tom Thumb’ may also be started and planted out at 15cm spacing when the plants have developed a bit more.

All these seedlings will need to be protected from frosts – use garden fleece as required, but always allow plenty of air to circulate to stop fungal attack such as botrytis which will cause damping off.

Think about getting seed potatoes in February. There is a wide range to choose from. First earlies like ‘Lady Christie’ do well here, although to get the fuller flavour of second earlies is always nice – try ‘Nadine’ then there is always the reliable ‘Charlotte’. Don’t forget to start the seed by ‘chitting’ them using old egg trays to stand the tuber with the eye growing point up and placed in a sheltered frost free spot.

Towards the end of February, start of March, bush roses should be pruned. Use sharp secateurs. Cuts should not be more than 5mm above a bud, and should slope away from it. Prune die-back to healthy wood. Remove all dead, diseased stems and burn them.  Trace suckers back to the roots from which they are growing and pull them away. Always wear protective gloves, the scratches from rose thorns can be nasty. Remember to keep your anti-tetanus jab up to date, at least once every 10 years.

Don’t forget your house-plants, especially on cold, frosty nights. Keep them on the room side, not behind the curtain. Plants are most likely to die from drastic temperature changes between a heated room in the day and a frosty sill at night.

Verbenas can be difficult to raise from seed, the best way to do it is to keep one or two plants for stock, and to take cuttings about the middle of February. Just cut a tip and place it in a good rooting medium and you will be able to have several hundred cuttings from one good stock plant.

Young plants of perpetual flowering carnations should be potted on as soon as the small pots are filled with root growth. Keep the plants in a light, airy place that is cool – they do not like too much heat.

Dahlias always provide super colour in the summer and into autumn. I love the Pom-Pom varieties sometimes described as a ping-pong ball on top of a knitting needle. Anew variety is called “Pink ISA”. At the other end are the decorative ‘kitchen plate’ stunners It is worthwhile looking out for other tubers that you can propagate in a greenhouse, and get them from Garden Centres or from your usual supplier.

Gardening tips – January 2026

Happy New Year everyone. 2026 is the 25th year that these tips have been written, so I must have repeated myself quite often but then, so do the seasons and all the natural rhythms of the year.

This is the time of year when houseplants are most appreciated. Azaleas, cineraria and cyclamen will all help to cheer things up. Do not over water, and most of these plants like cool conditions.

When your seeds arrive from the supplier keep them in a cool dry place until required. Protect pea seeds in particular because mice love them, and they have already got into our garden shed where they have started on anything that they can reach. Remember paper is no barrier to sharp teeth, and makes lovely nesting material.

Rhubarb can be forced using an upturned bucket or tub. This should be covered with garden fleece to keep off any frost.

When seed potatoes arrive, keep them in a frost-free place and stand the tubers, eye-end uppermost, in shallow boxes. If you can get large egg trays these are ideal for keeping the tubers upright and just separated to prevent any infection spreading.

Don’t forget to clear away stems and roots of green crops like cabbages once they have finished and try to get ahead with winter cultivation whenever the weather gives you a chance. Cloches put out to protect seed beds will allow the soil to dry and allow sowing to be started just a bit earlier than usual.

To get the best onions for the Summer Show (Saturday August 15th 2026, this year – make a note!) apart from starting the first sowings this month, you should give a good dressing of wood ash on the site of the bed that you will use, since they really like potash. The show is the earliest day it can be held on, so an early start is a good idea. This will apply to dahlia growers once the weather gets warmer.

Remember to get your mower and power tools serviced and ready for the spring. Don’t leave it to the last minute when everyone else will be trying to do the same thing.

Keep a check on all trees and shrubs, especially if they have been planted in the previous 12 months, to make sure that their roots are firmly in the soil.  Wind and frost can easily lift them and do a lot of damage if they are not heeled in and kept firm. Finish any pruning of fruit trees.  Give them a winter wash of tar oil to help keep down insect damage in the summer months. Fruiting bushes like currants and gooseberries should also be pruned during their dormant period.

Garden notes for November 2025.

All apple and pear trees should be pruned this month. Try to form the tree into a ‘wine glass’ shape to allow maximum light into the centre.  Remember to long prune tip bearing varieties.  Generally cut back ‘leaders’ by about one-third and prune back side growth.

November is a good month to repair lawns with turves if there is a need. It is also the best month to plant bare root fruiting trees and flowering trees in the garden, such as Japanese cherries, flowering crab apples and so on.  If you are considering planting a new hedge, now is the time to do it.

Much is written about composting, whole books have been devoted to it. Usually they depend on time for the material to rot down satisfactorily, but in most modern gardens there is not enough space for this. Two things to consider. Compost depends on having a good mix of nitrogen (from grass cuttings etc) and carbon (from twigs, stems and ash from fires). Always make certain the heap gets a bit of both. Second, bacteria love granulated fertiliser, the cheapest and best is ‘Growmore’. Sprinkle a bit of this on every two or 3 inches of the heap and you will get a faster decomposition.  Any animal manure that can be left for at least 2 months is also a very good accelerator.

Grass mowers should be kept under cover, and maintained so that they will be in good working order for the spring when the grass starts growing again. Tools, such as spades, forks, shears and so on, should be cleaned and oiled to prevent rusting. It is worth getting shears sharpened as they do become blunted with use during the spring and summer.

If you have a sheltered and well drained plot, now is the time to sow winter broad beans such as Aquadulce. Early broad beans often escape the blackfly attacks on the growth tips of the plant in spring.

Provided the weather is suitable keep digging the ground for good crops next year. Where possible double dig in farm yard manure, or well rotted compost from your own compost bin.

Roots of outdoor chrysthantemums should labelled, lifted and put in a cold frame for the winter.  If a cold frame is not available they can be kept under the shelter of a wall and protected with garden fleece.

November is perfect for planting tulips, as cooler soil reduces the risk of tulip fire – a fungal disease caused by planting too early. Whether filling borders or pots, choose a sunny spot with free-draining soil to ensure a vibrant spring display.

Start garlic and overwintering onions, now’s the time to plant garlic, which needs cold weather to form strong cloves. Use well-drained soil in a sunny spot, avoiding soggy ground. Overwintering onions and shallots can also go in – especially in milder areas or under cloches – to establish before spring.

Garden Notes for October 2025

As we go into the middle of autumn in October, the weather can be very unpredictable.  We might get a ‘St. Luke’s’ summer around the 18th of the month, equally we may get damaging frosts and gales at any time.  So be prepared and start getting in all the tender plants, put the winter chrysthantemums into their quarters.  One thing is for certain, and that is that the days will be drawing in. British Summer Time ends on the last weekend of October (Sunday 26th October) so the plants are gradually going into their winter hibernation.

Autumn is also harvest time for the gardener, although farmers seem to get their harvest in earlier and earlier.  In the garden, all fruit crops should be picked and stored regularly.  With apples and pears the test whether they are ready to pick is to lift the fruit gently with slight pressure on the stalk.  If it comes away easily – it’s ready.  It pays to pick over a tree several times as not all fruit mature at the same time.

Most houseplants will be slowing down their growth.  Water and feed less frequently.  Cacti, in particular, should be kept dry and frost-free during the winter.

Plant out wallflowers, polyanthus, sweet williams, foxgloves and other similar biennials for a good display in the spring.

Once the ground has been cleared it is a good idea to break it up.  If you have heavy clay (as most of us do round here) the best way is to use a spade and to leave it with large clods that will break down over the winter with weathering.  If you break the soil down too much at this time of year, it will just become a ‘pudding’ and you will have to start all over again in the spring.

After the first frosts have browned off the tops of dahlias, cut them down to within 12 cm (9”) of ground level.  Mark the variety with a label, and lift the tubers so that they can be dried under cover and then stored in a frost-free place for the winter.

If you want early sweet peas, now is the time to start them off.  For best result sow one or two seeds in rooting pots as sweet peas have an exceptionally long tap root.  Germinate the seeds in the greenhouse with gentle, consistent warmth.  Once they have emerged sweet peas can be kept outside in a cold frame, only needing protection from the worst frosts by having a cover over them.

With the arrival of cooler weather and damp soil, bare-root planting season begins. This is an ideal time to add deciduous trees, flowering shrubs, or climbers to the garden while giving them time to establish roots before spring growth kicks in.

Do come to the Horticultural Society AGM on which starts at 7pm with a talk on ‘A lifetime with roses’.  It will be in the Capel Parish Hall and roses will be on sale.

Garden Notes for September 2025.

Writing just at the start of the month it is good to have rain at last, hopefully the weather will go back to being predictably normal for the rest of the year.

With the nights drawing in and the temperature cooling, there may well be a danger of moulds appearing in many of the bedding plants, especially begonias.  Dead flowers left to rot act as a centre of infection, so keep deadheading.

Daffodils, but not tulips, should be planted up in September.  Try putting some bulbs in a bed especially for cutting in the spring.  Tulip bulbs should be planted in October or even a bit later depending on the variety.

Complete the planting of strawberries in September; otherwise they will not have enough time to establish themselves to build up strong fruiting crowns for next year.  You can plant them in late autumn or spring but if you want good plants, these later planted ones should not be allowed to fruit in their first season.

When picking apples or pears, don’t wrench them off the branch.  Gently push upwards and twist.  If the fruit is ready for picking it will come away easily, if not – leave it for a couple more days.

Continue disbudding chrysanthemums to leave one bud per stem, otherwise let them go to make a spray of much smaller blooms.  Don’t forget to get them in under some protection before the first frosts start.

Ripen off onions and store them when they are completely dry.  Harvest potatoes and keep them in a light proof bag, under cover.

September is the best time to take cuttings of penstemons.  The cuttings should be taken from young, non-flowering shoots as these will root readily in a sandy soil kept in a frame.

Spring cabbage should be planted out now.  It is important to remember to firm well round each plant after planting.  Lettuce can be planted for later cutting.  Good varieties include ‘All the Year Round’ and ‘Winter Density’.

Keep an eye out for tomato blight, and remove any infected leaves.  Towards the end of the month it will be best to clear away the remaining tomatoes as they will not do much more, and the space in the greenhouse will be needed for autumn and winter flowers.