Dogwood

Cutting Back. Dogwood should be cut back every two to three years to encourage vigorous growth...

After being left for about six weeks to regain their energy, spring bulbs can be dead-headed when the leaves starts to turn yellow, removing the stem at the base. It is a good idea to remember in the autumn to extend the display by choosing varieties with different flowering times.

If not already done, now is the time to plant out your sweet peas in a shelter spot.

Runner Beans

Seventeenth Week: April.

This is the week to start making sowings of Runner Beans. Fill fairly deep boxes with good soil and sow the seeds one inch deep, allowing them to germinate in the cool green house or cold frame.

In cold districts the main sowing of Long Beet may be made now, however in the South of England it would be as well to defer sowing until the middle of May, because if seeds are sown too early the resultant roots become large, coarse, of poor colour, and of indifferent flavour.

Planting And Protecting. Garlic, shallots, onions can all be planted.   

Last day for Potatoes

Sixteenth Week: April.

The planting of second-early Potatoes should now be done, and in most districts it will be safe to commit tubers of main-crop varieties to the soil. 

It is now time to make another sowing of Winter Greens, such as Brussels sprouts, Broccoli, Kales and the like. Your hoe is your best tool this time of year, the more you use it the better your crops will grow and the less weeds and bugs you will have to deal with.

Now is the time to start making sowings of Dwarf Beans, and if space is a problem you can sow the beans between rows of tall growing peas.

To have Peas for late July and August use, make sowings now. Deeply dug sow that is well manured suits this crop well.

Make sure that you keep your Asparagus beds are free of weeds because this crop will not tolerate weeds. Give the bed a light dressing of some feed.

Prune your Hybrid Tea

Fifteenth Week: April

Time to prune your Hybrid Tea Rose and fork in some muck around the roots.

Fine time to sow stump-rooted carrots.

Hoe along the rows of everything and sow your last Broad Beans for this season.

Stake all standard and half-standard newly planted fruit trees.

When seedling Onions become visible, encourage quicker growth by running the hoe between rows and removing by hand any weeds which may have shown themselves in the rows among the seedlings. Similar attention must be paid to seedlings of other vegetables, and it must not be forgotten that a dusting of old soot promote healthy and rapid growth.

Asparagus from seed:

If you wish to sow Asparagus from seed: now is the time, however be aware that it is a long process before you can harvest any. Two years at least.

Those who sow dwarf Beans now must be prepared for disappointment in the event of a late frost, but experience proves that it pays to make an experimental sowing during this week.Choose a shelter spot and sow the seeds in drills two feet apart, allowing six inches from seed to seed in the row.

I am cutting my Asparagus now. The earliest I have every done it.

Plant Potatoes

Fourteenth Week:   April

Plant potatoes if your soil is dry enough. On heavy soils it is a good idea to strew a little leaf mould along the bace of the drill.

This is a good time for clipping Box or Hollies along your garden path.

Look to your lawn; time now to give it a good rake and weed and feed.

Onion Seedlings

Onion seedlings resulting from an August sowing in the open should be transferred to their growing patch without further delay.

The grafting of old fruit trees may be done now. Make a two inch slit in the old bark to receive the young scions, which should be from twelve to fifteen inches in length. A the base of each scion make a sloping cut, and place this against the old wood. Tie the scions firmly in, and exclude air by using a mixture of clay and cow manure.

Tidy up the beds and hoe where you can.