With longer hours of sunlight and increased heat to come, greenhouses need to have shading applied where appropriate and remember to check all automatic vents - it doesn't take long to start cooking those delicate seedlings. Keep a look out for over-wintering aphids on young seedlings, but don't reach for your trusty spray gun because seedlings in the early stages shouldn't be sprayed with anything stronger than washing up liquid and water.

The ground will begin to warm up now, but can be helped along by using a cloche for localised sowing or protection. They come in many shapes and sizes. Principally they will have a metal frame with varying materials acting as the cover, ranging from glass, polythene, PVC sheet (flat or corrugated). Most garden centres and superstores will have a selection to choose from.

If you have not had the chance yet, you really should get the first cut of the lawn in as soon as possible. As the weather permits, cut and box all cuttings from the lawn - start with the highest setting on the mower and gradually reduce the height over the next few weeks until you reach your desired cutting height for the season. At the end of the month consider the first application of weed, feed and moss killer. Any moss that is raked out must be removed from the garden. I wouldn't even consider composting it - the risk of spores finding their way back into the lawn is too high.

Many herbaceous plants will begin to show as the warmer weather comes in, so now is a good time to get frames over them to give support to both the foliage and flowers. Mulching with compost both over the soil and around the plants will not only add the natural benefits of organic mater but also help to keep the annual weeds down which will start to become prevalent. No matter what the weather conditions, monsoon or drought, somehow weeds always manage to grow!! When hoeing, make sure that only the surface is disturbed, hoe too deep and you will bring up more weed seeds that otherwise would have remained dormant - known as the SSI (soil seed index)

Roses will be susceptible to mildew and aphid attacks. One of the easiest ways to keep your roses clean is to spray with Nimrod-T. This is a combined application for pest and disease control. They will also benefit from an application of rose food such as Toprose. A small handful around each bush lightly forked in will ensure they receive many of the trace elements not found in quick release foods such as Growmore etc. A good organic concentrated food is 6X - it is derived from chicken manure and one whiff gives an indication of how powerful this stuff really is. A handful per sq. metre is all you need - use it on anything outside, even the lawn and it won't scorch.

Rhododendrons, Camellia and Pieris are flowering, or about too. Make sure you apply some sequestrene to ensure continued flowering with definitive colours. Sequesterene or sequested iron is a name for 'chelated iron' and is used to adjust the pH in and around the soil of the plant. It comes in several forms, liquid, granules, or pellets and is sold as such in garden centres and superstores etc. Plants such as Rhododendrons, Camellia and Pieris (among others) require an acid soil to grow successfully, but can be grown in soil that is borderline acid/alkaline provided sequestrene is applied at regular intervals to keep the immediate soil around the plant at a ph of 6.5 or less. Typical signs of anemia in the plant (when the soil becomes alkaline and locks up food to the plant) are a yellowing of the older leaves to begin with, followed by the new leaves in extreme cases. The liquid form will give fairly quick results for plants that require it, whereas the granules or pellets can be lightly forked into the soil to retain optimum soil conditions for longer.

Warning - this time of year sees an influx in our dreaded garden enemies - slugs and snails. A recent survey conducted amongst the gardening public concerning pests & diseases amongst plants, found that surprise, surprise, slugs and snails were top of the list as garden pest number one.

With the continued milder winters now becoming the norm the little darlings never seem to go away. Nematodes are becoming an increasingly popular method of control as more and more gardeners seek alternative methods to the traditional pellets - Nematodes are able to provide that in an organic and safe way! Also some slugs are building up a resistance to metaldehyde, which is one of the active ingredients of many leading brand pellets. Nemaslug for example, used in conjunction with gravels and grits around plants, gives a more lasting effect, especially as Nemaslug is not effected by rain that the UK is far to used to. With the emerging lush green shoots of herbaceous, Hostas and the like, do not delay, protect your precious plants now, before there is nothing left to protect. For more information on pest control follow the link to our related article.

Another little delight is vine weevil, I have found evidence in my own garden. The little so and so's had eaten most of the root system of an herbaceous geranium and as a result it was looking very sad for itself. The larvae are legless (without legs, not drunk!) grubs, creamy white in colour with brown heads and will have attacked the roots between autumn and spring. The adults however, will show damage as irregular holes in leaves during the growing season. They are non-selective as to which plants they attack. This problem can also be attacked with Nematodes.

April is also a good time to convince the forgotten houseplant, that you do love it really with a change of compost and a good clean of those otherwise very dusty leaves. Remember they breathe through those leaves in one form or another. Move up only one size in pot and cotton wool dipped in milk (I don't think they have a preference as to whether it's full fat or semi-skimmed) will suffice for wiping over the leaves.

Happy Gardening,