Monthly musings: April

Feeding the garden

You’d feel very miffed if you were expected to do a full day’s work without a decent meal inside you yet that’s exactly what happens to a lot of gardens. When plants are flowering flat out or, in the case of edible crops, being plumped up for the kitchen, you really can’t expect them to find everything they need for themselves. The soil’s natural reserves need topping up at the start of the growing season, ready to fuel the surge of fresh growth, flowering and seed production to come. For the garden, spring is feeding time.

Just about all plants benefit from a healthy dose of nutrients around now. You could spend a fortune on dozens of different products for different plants or for different jobs, but it’s really not necessary. It’s far more cost effective just to buy one or two really useful products in large quantities so you benefit from bulk discount.

The other type of feed you’ll need is a liquid kind (liquid tomato feed)  or a soluble one which you dissolve in water. These are the only kinds to use for feeding plants in containers. It’s too risky to use solid fertilisers on plants in tubs, troughs and hanging baskets, or in small pots or growing bags, since the very limited volume of soil or compost means there’s a big risk of scorching their roots, which is easily done using solid fertilisers. The exception to this rule is slow-release fertiliser granules which can be scattered on the surface of the compost according to the manufacturer's instructions and which will release a small amount of feed at every watering.

With liquid feeds you are applying a relatively weak dose of feed little and often, which is just the way plants use it. And if you are buying liquid or soluble feed anyway, they also come in handy for giving a quick boost of nutrients to any very free-flowering plants or fast-growing or heavy cropping veg during the growing season roses, salads, clematis and dahlias spring particularly to mind.

Specialist feeds are optional extras; the one you might decide to splash out on is lawn feed. When you want a specially lush green lawn, then it’s worth opting for a spring and summer lawn feed, or a slow-release version that lasts all season. Do it now unless we have an unseasonal cold snap or if you garden in a chilly ‘late’ region, in which case delay by up to three weeks.

Whatever you grow, and whichever product you choose, get into good nutritional habits. But always start the season off with a full larder.