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The Garden in April


This is the month that the garden starts to come to life again, and after a long cold winter it is long overdue.  As soon as the sun comes out there is an irresistible desire to get outside and 'connect' with your garden, perhaps more so now than ever where it is one of the few havens from all that seems complicated in the world.

The garden is liable to have many 'holes' or gaps in the planting where plants simply fail to appear after the bitter winter. There have been many casualties: Echium, Cordyline, Hebes, Escallonia....... the list is endless. A recent drive through Kildare revealed to me just how hard this winter has been on gardens, and it has been a wake-up-call to anyone with a soft spot for tender plants. After a series of relatively mild winters we had become complacent about what could and could not grow in this climate, and this winter has brought it home to us that we need to think carefully about the hardiness of the plants we put in our gardens.

And many's the garden that simply lacks plants, like the one above. For anyone whao has recently built a house, or feels motivated at long last to do something about their garden, the next couple of months is an ideal time.... days are longer, the soil may at last start  to dry out and being outside is generally pleasanter. In our opinion, gardens are about plants. They don't need to be big when they grow in.  There just need to be plenty of them! A balance of different sizes is the most important thing, from a small proportion of big things (trees), a larger proportion of medium-sized plants (shrubs and small trees) and a good amount of low things (perennials, grasses and ferns). With this balance you create a more harmonius and natural garden, with something going on at all levels.

 

Grass and lawns April is an ideal time to sort out your grass or make a lawn. As soil temperatures increase, so does germination and growth. For smaller spaces or where speed is of the essence, roll-out grass sods are best, and there should be no fear of getting it wrong, They are most forgiving and we have complete instructions for putting down a roll-out lawn on the site. Our grass sods are weed-free and well established, grown in North County Dublin or Kildare. We can deliver them within a day or two of ordering and our prices are very competitive. If your ground is in any way lumpy or poorly drained, we highly recommend putting down a layer of root-zone (sand and screened topsoil). If you have an existing lawn, bear in mind that it can be fed or aerated at this time of year, or have lawn sand applied - all of which help to keep it green, moss-free and well-drained. And remember, as your grass does start growing, that you will need a lawnmower. If your old banger in the shed has given up the ghost, consider one of our Swedish push mowers from Jonsered - a completely easy, well-designed and effective mower for the majority of gardens, with no messy engine to look after. Lawn products: http://www.dyg.ie/plant-search?filter0=lawn+item

 

Planting If the winter took its toll on your garden, now is a good time to fill the gaps. If you lost perennials or smaller plants, consider buying something hardy and low maintenance which is guaranteed to come back year after year. Some of the best plants in this category include Crocosmia (Montbretia), Japanese anemone, Astrantia and Hemerocallis (Day lily). These hardy plants survive cold conditions and also have wonderful flowers. If you are looking for easy, attractive shrubs that can cope with most garden conditions, consider Philadelphus, Spiraea, Viburnum tinus 'Eve Price', or indeed in any of our native shrubs such as Holly, Hawthorn, Guelder rose or Spindle. We are buying in new plants every week and sending them straight out to our customers in the peak of health...... just what you would expect from any good garden centre, but delivered to your door.

Fiddleheads

For any customers who need a lot of plants, we understand how expensive this can become. There are all sorts of tricks which can stretch your budget further than you would think, from choosing vigorous or fast-growing plants to buying plants in smaller containers. Plants in smaller containers are rarely sold in garden centres, and only a limited range is available, but for anyone wanting larger quantities (minimum of 20 of each species), please contact us we can often supply these at less than half the cost of larger container sizes. These small plants establish quickly, are fast to plant and stretch your budget twice as far.

 

Seed sowing The temptation is always to start sowing seeds as soon as there is a jot of warmth in the sun, but hanging on until there is some real heat is the key. A lot of seeds will quickly germinate and then grind to a halt, only to be got by 'damping off' (wilting and fading away), frost or slugs and snails. Better to wait until later in the month and then let your little plants have a clean run from seed tray to ground without the long and treacherous wait in between. When sowing seed, remember to use the right compost, such as John Innes seed compost. If you want to give them the best chance of all, in a controlled environment, it's worth investing in a propagator with a heating cable. This will encourage healthy, vigorous growth in places which, although sunny, are often draughty. We stock seed trays, seed compost, propagators, as well as some of the more tried-and tested vegetable and salad seeds. It's not all plain sailing, and that's why we encourage people to plant what really works and what we have had luck with ourselves: Swiss chard, Beetroot, Lettuce, Rocket and Courgettes. If you really want to plant something that you put in the ground and forget about until time comes to graze in the garden, then plant fruit bushes: blueberries are our favourite. Home-grown blueberries are delicious and plentiful, and one plant will repay itself in a year or two and produce more and more each year. Keep in mind that they require acidic soil, so if you don't know your soil type, you might want to do a soil test (pH tester also available from dyg). We also stock what must be one of the most badly-needed garden gadgets for the coming coming couple of moths: a slug trap that really works. The Slug X trap uses beer rather than poisin and has been awarded various trade prizes because it really works. For our propagation essentials, visit our Potting Shed: http://www.dyg.ie/compost-and-fertiliser.

 

 

 


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