Photo: Rhododendron 'Christmas Rose'Remove the wilting seed heads from Rhododendrons and Azaleas, so that the plants energy can go to foliage growth and next years flowers, rather than seeds. Work lime in the soil around your Hydrangeas to produce pink flowers or Aluminium Sulphate for blue.
Early flowering deciduous shrubs such as Forsythias, Weigela, and Spiraea should be pruned back when they have finished blooming. Cut back a third of the oldest canes to ground level, then cut back one third of the remaining branches by one third of their height.
Lilacs should be pruned lightly after they finish blooming, removing sucker growths and dead blooms. Feed lilacs in May with a good all purpose fertilizer after they have finished blooming. If your soil has an acidic pH, work a little lime into the soil as well.
Break off wilting tulip or daffodil heads but continue to feed and care for the plants until the foliage has died back naturally. Old plantings of daffodils may be divided and moved when they have finished blooming, but treat them as growing plants and use care to protect the foliage and roots.
Water them thoroughly after transplanting. It is best not to dig or move other spring flowering bulbs until their foliage has ripened and died back.
Check your houseplants for greenfly. I have had to throw one or two out because of a serious infestation.
At the end of the month we can start to think about sowing seeds of vegetables out of doors. This is if the soil is warm enough. French and runner beans, beetroot, broccoli, cabbages, cauliflower, carrots, kale, leeks, lettuce, spring onions, parsnips, spinach and turnips can all be planted out. I am putting down some black fleece on the top of my soil to get the temperature up a degree or two over the next couple of weeks. If you do put seeds out then it might be an idea to stagger the sowings so that they crop over a longer period.
Horticultural.
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