Another dry spring. As I have often said before – we live on an island, therefore we must expect unpredictable weather, but with global climate change it’s anyone’s guess as to what will happen next. Not mongering doom, just expressing my concern. It is so hard not to be cynical about last minute efforts to reduce our energy consumption when we should have been doing these things years ago. But then what do you expect? The simple cost of material comfort for all is the future of our world. A paradox exists. I have no solution except to try to live my own life in the best way I can – grow as much of my own food as is practical, turn the thermostat down and the extra light off, and of course plant more trees. Someone will have to explain to me how it works that you can fly everywhere you want, sign up to a carbon balancing programme that promises to plant a tree at some future point and gives you the right to feel good about it all.

One thing I do try to do is to make compost and return organic matter to the soil. I’m trying to find a mulching lawn mower [any offers?] and rebuild the compost heaps as the timber sides are giving way. Green living has to be a way of life not an occasional activity when you’re in the mood – that is the only route.

Will this be a year of water shortages? I have no idea but it is probably worth getting a water butt in place as it certainly won’t do any harm. But buy early! Hanging baskets and planters can retain more of their moisture if you make the planter as big as possible. Small and shallow containers dry out fast. Add some loam based compost, namely John Innes compost, to the mix and a few crystals of water holding compound such as Swelgell. It all helps.

April has been mild and dry and more like May than anything else. The eternal question raises its head – is it safe to plant out summer bedding. In the old days, only the hardier plants such as Antirrhinums and pansies were set out before the end of May. The real softies such as busy-lizzies and begonias would wait their turn. But summer gets earlier and the old rules no longer apply. The insurance policy is a length of horticultural fleece, a lightweight blanket that will protect your precious plants from unexpected frosts.

Plant of the Month – Hostas – a group of plants that look their best at this time of the year. Luscious spring greens that will flourish in difficult shady places, and perform well as a successor to spring bulbs where the fresh new foliage masks and covers the dying foliage of the bulbs.

But the Hosta is so much more than simply a problem-solver, as their massive following would suggest. They’re great in a woodland garden, as well as in borders and beds. They’re effective in combination with plants with Japanese heritage, including the smaller maples, bamboos, hydrangeas or ferns.

Leaves in dense mounds is what Hostas do best and depending on variety they may be yellow, green, grey-blue or variegated. The pattern and range of variegation, along with the range of colour brings interest and colour to mixed borders or beds. Leaves may be heart-shaped, or ovate. Most also produce flowers, mainly in summer, which can be very attractive too.

There’s a terrific range to choose from. Look out for ‘Wide Brim’. This produces wonderful dark green leaves that have a wide margin of pale cream. It reaches a height of about 45cm and a spread of 1m. The leaves of Hosta fortunei appear early enough to combine well with late spring flowers, for example bluebells. Many variants are available. ‘Shade Fanfare’ produces large, bright yellow-green leaves with creamy white edges and reaches a height and spread of 45cm and 60cm respectively. ‘Halcyon’ is a great choice if you’re looking for blue-green or glaucous foliage.

Hostas are a clump-forming plant which really helps if you want to populate an area. If you dig up established clumps of Hosta, it’s possible to split the clump with a spade and replant the resulting halves. They’ll do well under deep-rooting trees and are perfect near water, for example the shaded sides of a pond or stream.

As perennials they die back completely in winter, the new spear-like shoots of the tightly rolled leaves appearing in spring. Hostas are fully hardy. They need a reasonably fertile, moist but well-drained soil. It’s important to stop them drying out, but spreading compost over the surface (mulching) in spring should do the trick. Their succulent leaves can prove too much of a temptation to slugs, but growing in pots keeps the leaves out of harm’s way if the war against slugs is one that you don’t wish to engage in.

JOBS FOR THE MONTH –

Growth is really happening this month, everywhere you look new shoots and leaves. Young and freshly planted items will need a little care and support. Don’t let them dry out as their roots won’t have travelled far enough to reach lower soil moisture as yet. By the same token don’t drown them by over watering. New gardeners often find it hard to reach a balance and in truth it is a skill that comes with experience.

Watch for damaged growth, prune back as soon as you are sure that things have stabilised and you can tell how for the damage has gone. Generally look for the first good healthy bud after the damaged growth.  Root death is harder to spot especially where plants have been rocked by wind, and sat in waterlogged ground over winter. These may suddenly collapse when the plant starts into growth – when the demands of the shoots exceed the ability of the roots to support it. Give encouragement in the form of a feed and mulch and they should recover. Even more important, don’t let spring planted trees and shrubs die for lack of water from the dry spring. Soil moisture has taken a hammering, and young roots will be struggling to find enough water to keep the shoots going. Same with newly sown areas, seedlings do not like to get started, then abruptly dried out.

In the vegetable garden, sow maincrop carrots, swedes, spinach and lettuce. Sow runner and dwarf beans in trays or pots. Sweet corn can go in provided the soil is in reasonable condition, and well manured. Make successional sowings of salad crops [every 14 days]. Prepare the sites for marrows, courgettes and pumpkins (a 1 ft hole filled with well-rotted manure is ideal) which can be planted out in the middle of the month.

Weed control through regular hoeing is always the best approach - use it when the soil is dry so that dislodged weeds can’t root again. Keep the fleece handy in case we do get a cold snap.

Lawns - Feed, weed and kill the moss. Lightly fork the bare patches and then rake in fresh seed covered with fine soil or loam based compost.

When you get to the herbaceous border - hoe off emerging seedlings, and mulch with well-rotted garden compost.  Pot grown plants can be planted at any time, and don’t forget to provide support for the taller growing plants such as Delphiniums.

This is an excellent time for planting up ponds and marginal areas to give a good effect this summer.
Roses are growing fast and must be cared for. Even though many varieties are less susceptible to black spot, they still do better if treated, and the first spray of the season is the most important. Talk to your local garden centre about chemicals available as changes this year will affect what you can use and what will no longer be available to gardeners. Best of all, feed roses well, mulch liberally, and make sure they don’t go short of water in May and June.

Shrub borders - summer flowering shrubs should have been pruned by now, but you can prune the early flowering shrubs such as Forsythia and clip the evergreens.