April Gardening Tasks

April in Africa means warm and mild weather that most of us gardeners love. Working in the garden is a dream which is perfect because autumn is a prime gardening month. Not only is there garden maintenance and cleaning that can be done now, many winter veggies and flowering annuals can be sown now.

Although winter is fast approaching, many plants are emblazoned in a final flush of autumn flowers and blooms for us to enjoy before dormancy sets in.

Here is a list of everything you can do in your garden in April:

General Tasks

Use fallen autumn leaves as light layers of mulch around plants, to add in thin layers to your compost heap, or to make leaf mould by stacking them in plastic bags to break down.
Cover your compost heap with canvas or plastic to prevent heat and moisture loss (or too much water in winter-rainfall regions).
Keep your gardenias well-watered at this stage. Although they flower mostly in summer, they still form new buds until late autumn, which mature on the plant and will open as soon as temperatures rise again. If they experience a lack of water in this phase, the buds fail to open and fall off.
If you want to move trees and shrubs in your garden to a different spot, do it now. As the heat is over, plants will have a better chance to establish themselves again in a new area.
Move frost-sensitive plants in pots to a protected place and buy frost-protection material to protect sensitive plants in the garden.
Water azaleas and camellias once a week to ensure good flowering in late winter.

Sowing

Aquilegias must be sown in trays in April. There are many hybrids and forms available, from dwarf to tall. Although they are regarded as perennials, it is better to replace with new plants grown from seed every year.
You can also sow Alyssum, African daisy, Toad Flax (Linaria), Cornflower, Bokbaaivygie and Virginia Stocks.
Fairy primulas can be sown this month. Learn how to sow fairy primulas here
April is the month to sow your sweet peas!

Planting

Plant the full range of osteopermums, arctotises and diascias for instant colour – they flower now and love the cooler weather.
Look out for primulas, petunias, and pansies at your local garden centre.
Plant more annuals for winter and spring – especially petunias, which will enjoy the dryer weather in summer-rainfall regions. They supply bright colour in a winter garden.
Plant out seedlings of larkspurs, delphiniums, and foxgloves into well-prepared beds. They enjoy deep, rich, and well-drained soil in a sunny to lightly shaded spot. Tall biannuals like these will need staking and this is best done when planting them out.

Bulbs

Start planting spring-flowering bulbs in the garden as soon as the soil and night temperatures have cooled down. Do it in batches from now to the end of May to stagger the flowering period.
From April until the end of May is the time to plant all the wonderful late-winter- and spring-flowering bulbs. These include daffodils, freesias, hyacinths, Dutch irises, ranunculus, muscari, chikerinchees, babiana, ixias and sparaxis.
Bulb tip: Because spring-flowering bulbs need to be cool, don’t plant them next to hard landscaping like driveways or paved pathways.

Feeding

Feeding young lemon trees that are not yet established is not a critical thing in the first year or two, but older trees are gross feeders. To ensure a great harvest of fruit you have to fertilise at least four times per year, in July, September, January and April – use a balanced granular fertiliser for fruit and flowers.
Citrus trees growing in pots need additional and more regular feeding with a liquid fertiliser.

Dividing And Replanting

Lift, divide and replant Japanese anemones, irises, arum lilies, Michaelmas daisies, campanulas, Shasta daisies, echinacea, gaillardias, bergamot, daylilies, dietes, agapanthus, lilyturf and sweet Williams. You have two opportunities to do intensive division: autumn (ideal for most temperate climates) and spring (for very cold frosty climates).

Plant Cuttings

Keep taking soft cuttings of pelargoniums, salvias, lavenders, fuchsias, daisy bushes, penstemons, rosemary, arctotis, osteospermums and trailing gazanias.
You can grow more begonias from their leaves this month. Watch our video to learn how to do this.
Take hardwood cuttings to propagate. Plants that can be propagated by hardwood cutting include ‘Iceberg’ roses, Viburnum opulus ‘Roseum’, Nandina domestica, frangipani, wisteria, crepe myrtle, hydrangea and berberis, as well as fruit trees such as figs, pomegranates, quinces and mulberries. Learn more here.

Pruning

Prune evergreen hedges and clean them out at the base as it can become a hiding and overwintering place for pests.
Prune shrubs which have finished flowering in summer. Chop up or shred the pruned material and place in thin layers on your compost heap.
Neaten climbers which have become overgrown and too heavy for their support structures.
Rosemary does not like to be pruned too drastically! If the plants have become woody and sparse and have lost condition, rather replace them with fresh plants.

Lawns

While the lawn is still growing, mow once a fortnight with the blades on high for the final few cuts.
If you haven’t already done so, carry out the autumn lawn care programme of scarifying, aerating, repairing, top dressing and feeding with low nitrogen autumn lawn food.
Sow lawn seed after good preparation of the surface. Lay new turf at this time of the year.

Pests

Keep spraying conifers against Italian cypress aphids, which are active in the cooler months.

Rose Tasks

This is the last month to fertilise the roses except in warm subtropical areas. Don’t fertilise rose bushes that have lost their leaves.
Watering can be reduced to once a week, except in warm sub-tropical areas, because the roses are entering their prime blooming time.
Spray monthly with an organic fungicide to prevent black spot which becomes prevalent with the heavier dew in the mornings.
Extend the autumn rose flush by deadheading and disbudding. Remove the centre bud from a cluster to produce longer-stemmed blooms.

April Veggie Sowing Guide

Highveld and KwaZulu-Natal Midlands

Broad beans, beetroot, carrots, kale, kohlrabi, lettuce, mizuna, mustard greens, pak choi, parsnips, radishes, spinach and Swiss chard, turnips.

Middleveld (Pretoria and other less frosty areas)

Broad beans, beetroot, cabbage, carrots, kale, kohlrabi, lettuce, mizuna, mustard greens, pak choi, parsnips, garden peas, spinach and Swiss chard, turnips.

Eastern Cape and Little Karoo

Broad beans, Chinese cabbage, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, celery, kale, kohlrabi, leeks, lettuce, mizuna, pak choi, mustard greens, onions, parsnips, radishes, Swiss chard.

Western Cape (and Southern Coast)

Broad beans, beetroot, Chinese cabbage, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, celery, kale, kohlrabi, leeks, lettuce, mizuna, mustard greens, onions, pak choi, parsnips, garden peas, radishes, spinach and Swiss chard, turnips.

Northern Cape and Great Karoo

Broad beans, beetroot, Chinese cabbage, carrots, kale, kohlrabi, lettuce, mizuna, mustard greens, onions, pak choi, parsnips, radishes, spinach, Swiss chard, turnips.

Lowveld and KwaZulu-Natal coast

Broad beans, Bush beans, runner beans, beetroot, brinjals, cabbage, capsicums (sweet peppers and chillies), carrots, cucumber, kale, kohlrabi, leeks, lettuce, mizuna, mustard greens, pak choi, parsnip, garden peas, pumpkin and Hubbard squash, radishes, rhubarb, spinach and Swiss chard, bush and trailing squash, tomatoes, turnips.

Veggie Garden Tasks

Divide overgrown clumps of chives and garlic chives and replant into freshly composted soil.
It’s time to plant out young strawberry plants.
Plant mint, chives, lovage, oregano, thyme and Italian parsley for flavouring winter stews and soups.
Clear away fallen leaves and rotten fruit under fruit trees. This will prevent rose beetles and fruitflies from breeding and overwintering there.
Young fruit trees, especially deciduous types like peaches, plums, nectarines, and apricots, can be planted this month.
Grow your own garlic from bulb sets available in garden centres.
Monitor watering of brassicas, lettuce, and other leafy greens to make sure the soil doesn’t dry out.
Remove yellow leaves from brassicas such as Brussels sprouts, cabbages, cauliflowers, and broccoli to prevent disease.
Feed cabbage, broccoli, kale, other brassicas, and lettuce with a liquid fertiliser for strong growth before winter.
Speed up the ripening of summer-fruiting veggies by removing leaves that shield the fruit from the sun.
Pinch off the growing tips of butternut and remove underdeveloped fruit so that the larger squash can ripen.
Thin out seedlings to their final spacing and drench with a liquid fertiliser.
Use fallen leaves and grass cuttings as well as other greens to build a new compost heap that can decompose over winter. Add a compost activator or herbs like borage, comfrey or yarrow that are natural compost activators.
Sow green manures in garden beds that will be fallow in winter. It’s a good idea to rest at least one bed in the veggie garden.
April is the perfect month to plant more rosemary.
Harvest the last of your peppers and chillies.