April in the garden

Another month and we’re well into autumn now. Daylight Saving is done for another summer, and we can feel that slow drum-beat heading towards winter.

For me, autumn is a much more exciting time of year than spring, but that’s probably got to do with our warmer climate here in the Far North. We don’t really get ‘winter’ here. It’s closer to a wet, coldish season.

Which is great for many of my favourite plants! Garlic season is coming up. It’s time to think about early potatoes and strawberries too.

High-level tips for this month:

• Get your brassica planted early so they establish well before the cold sets in.
• Secure your seed garlic and seed potatoes.
• Clean up your strawberry beds.
• Tidy up your stone fruit, and stay on top of it if fungal issues have been an issue for you.
• Harvest apples and pears.

Things to plant

Greens like spinach, winter lettuces, and cilantro love the cooler, wetter autumn weather.

Some people like to get their garlic in now. I prefer to wait a bit longer myself. I think the biggest benefit to this technique comes to anyone who gets frozen soil in the depths of winter, so worth considering if you’re in Zone C.

But don’t panic, the rest of us can take a bit more time – garlic can be planted anytime until early August. Mine will probably be going in around June.

Brassicas (broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, kale, pak choi and other Chinese cabbages) can be planted this month too.

They really benefit from having at least some growth in the warmer temperatures which are quickly running out, so make them a priority if they’re not already planted. Best to choose seedlings at this stage.

Remember to protect your plants from slugs, snails, and caterpillars. White butterfly will be hanging around until you’ve had your first frost.

If you have planted leeks, then once they hit pencil thickness it’s time to begin mounding them up for nice long shanks.

You can fit an old toilet roll as a collar around them if you’d prefer to keep the dirt out from between the leaves.

Broad beans

Broad beans are also ready to go in this month (unless you live in a cold zone – Zone C – in which case hold off til May).

Legumes (peas, beans, peanuts) like to grow directly from seed and don’t enjoy transplanting, so skip the seedlings and buy a packet of seed. It’s way more economical and a pack can last a few seasons if you store it in a cool dark place.

Prepare your soil with lime and compost – particularly if it hasn’t had any in the last 12 months. Soak your seeds in water (perhaps with a dash of a seaweed or fish fertiliser if you have it) for 4-12 hours before planting to encourage germination.

Direct sow into your garden bed in blocks at 2cm depth, and 10-15cm spacing.

Find your early seed potatoes

It’s time to start keeping your eyes out for seed potatoes, especially if you live in one of the warmer northern regions (Zone A on the map). In particular, you’re looking for your Early varieties – Jersey Bennes, Swift, Rocket etc.

These grow fast and aren’t the best ‘keepers’, but they will provide you with new-season potatoes in early spring. Last year we got a bumper crop from ‘Rocket’, so I think I’ll be looking for them again.

Buying them now means they have plenty of time to chit. Once you get them home, pop them into some old egg cartons and place them somewhere warmish, out of direct sunlight.

They will begin to form sprouts, which is what you want when you go to plant them later on.

Learn more about growing potatoes with my potato growing guide.

Pip fruit

Apples and pears should be ripening about now. Which is great – it’s the fun bit!

We are especially partial to an apple crumble in these cooler darker nights. It’s perfect for the imperfect apples.

It’s usually about now we strip the trees. Last year it was possums, this year it was an incoming downpour.

I usually process the imperfect ones into apple sauce and freeze it, but this year they’re almost gone anyway, so we just keep them in the fridge.

Kath Irvine has a great guide on storing apples over at Edible Backyard.

While you’re harvesting your apples, look at your trees and think about how you might prune them this winter.

Last year I was looking at one of my apple trees and noticed one branch that just really obviously needed to be removed. It had a very narrow crotch and the branch stuck straight up in the air.

I had to laugh when I followed it to the trunk though. It had a red ribbon tied around it. That’s my note to myself that the branch needs to go. I left it there the previous winter as I’d already removed enough of the tree.

So take a roll of string (or ribbon) and instead of making your cuts – plan them. Give yourself some time to think. For more pruning tips, grab my free 20-page guide to pruning by signing up to the mailing list.

If the leaves are beginning to fall on your trees, then again it’s time to rake them up and send them off to green waste if you’re facing fungal issues.

Once the leaves are gone, go spray with copper to clean them up to give your trees the best chance next season.

Stone fruit

If you’ve struggled with fungal issues this year, then I recommend you get out there, rake up all your leaves, and take them to a green waste facility.

Keeping those leaves around keeps the fungal spores around. So get them away from your garden. Same goes for any mouldy fruit that fell, or is stuck to the branches.

Once all the leaves have fallen, it’s a good idea to spray a copper spray to “clean up” any remaining fungal spores.

This is really your last chance to prune your stone fruit, but if you live in Zone C you’ve probably missed the window and should wait until spring.

Remember pruning should be done on a dry day, and your tools should be sanitised between trees to prevent disease spread.

Citrus

One thing I almost-never need to think about is frost. But if you live in Zone C (or Zone B), then the colder months might not be too far away.

Citrus fruit aren’t too fond of a frost and will need protection. You’ll find more detail about how in the citrus care guide.

For those of us in Zone A, it’s still a good time to apply Conqueror or another horticultural spraying oil if you’re having pest problems. My lemon has had a long-standing scale infection that I’m still working on with sprays every couple of weeks.

Remember to spray on an overcast day, or in the evening to avoid burning your leaves.

Zones A and B should be looking at any pruning they need to do. Remember to use a pruning paste if Citrus Borer might be a problem for you.

Strawberries

It’s time to start thinking about strawberries! You have about 4 months to sort them out, but you can start now. The earlier they go in, the more established they’ll be come spring – meaning better, earlier strawberries for you.

Load your soil up with aged manure and/or compost, and space them about 20cm apart. Make sure the ‘crown’ of the plant is lifted above the soil.

If your existing strawberry plants are over 4 years old, you might want to think about refreshing them this year.

You can do this with the runners they’ve probably been sending out – rip out the older plants and replace with the smaller, fresher ones for larger harvests.

More info on planting strawberries can be found in my stawberry planting guide.

Onwards!

The honest truth is I very rarely get around to doing absolutely everything on these lists myself. And even when I do, it doesn’t always go to plan!

But it really does only take a little bit of effort to pay off long term. If your stone fruit were disappointing this year, then a couple of hour’s work pruning and spraying now could mean this time next year looks very different for you.

Likewise, grabbing that bag of seed potatoes or tray of cauliflower seedlings this weekend could mean bumper harvests in a few shorth months.

So get out there and do what you can – anything is better than nothing, eh?