Gardening tips and advice: April 2025

This month our gardening tips are brought to you by our gardening team, including gardeners with learning disabilities. Working outside with nature brings benefits to us all, but for some of the people supported in the gardens at Furzey it is particularly important.

Dan, one of the team, encourages you to get out and enjoy your gardening spaces. ‘I love spring, it makes me feel happy. The jobs I like to do are mulching and mowing the lawn. I particularly like to keep the grass cut here at Furzey as it makes the garden look nice and tidy for visitors.’

Here are the gardening jobs you can do in your own garden this month.

Before everything bursts into full leaf, take the time to shape up your shrubs and trees. If you haven’t pruned your roses yet, they love a good prune as it encourages strong growth and plentiful blooms later in the season.

Spring flowering shrubs can be lightly pruned once they have finished flowering. This helps to maintain their shape. Osmanthus, forsythia, deutzia are some of our collection that require a little attention to keep them healthy and in good shape. Magnolia trees don’t generally require pruning after flowering, however any shaping or the removal of dead/damaged wood should be done just after flowering to avoid stress and preserve buds for next year.

Once their spring show is over, rhododendrons and azaleas welcome a gentle touch to reset for the season ahead. Just pinch off the faded blooms using finger and thumb to avoid damaging new buds beneath.

One of the spring highlights, bright pink flowers grow out of the trunk of Judas tree

With warmer weather and less chance of a frost, April is the perfect moment to start sowing both flower and veg seeds directly outdoors. If you are looking for suggestions, here are some ideas to get you started.

Hardy annuals like cornflowers, calendula, and nasturtiums are brilliant for pollinators and easy to grow. Whilst sunflowers are great for dramatic height and cheerful yellow faces later in the summer. Salad crops such as lettuce, rocket, spinach and radish are quick to grow and endlessly satisfying. They don’t need much space, just good light and remember to keep the soil moist. Watch out for slugs, they love a young and tender leaf.

If you’re dreaming of vibrant borders and blooming containers in July and August, now’s the time to get planting. Choose from container-grown perennials, compact shrubs and small trees that will come into their own in high summer. Look out for echinacea, salvias, hydrangeas and Japanese maples—all easy to grow and full of seasonal flair. Plant now, and your garden will be bursting with colour when it matters most.

As climbers like clematis and sweet peas start to shoot up, they will need something to grab onto. Install supports now – bamboo canes, trellises, or obelisks – so your plants can scramble and sprawl with style.

As the days warm, pests begin to stir. Be on the lookout for slugs and snails munching on fresh hosta leaves and lupins. If you spot aphids gathering on new shoots, try a gentle squirt of water or encourage ladybirds to do the job for you. Finally, check for pots for the dreaded grubs of vine weevils. Vine weevils love the cosy, stable environment of pots—making any containerised plant a potential target.

Consider planting companion plants like marigolds and nasturtiums to deter pests naturally.

Large blooms of Rhododendron Irrorata

Give your lawn a springtime makeover, scarify to remove moss and thatch with a spring-tine rake, aerate compacted areas with a garden fork (push in and wiggle it to create air pockets). Treat bare patches with fresh seed and gently rake in, don’t be afraid to overseed. Apply a spring lawn feed to kickstart lush green growth.

As birds nest and bees begin their busy season, your garden can become a sanctuary: Installing a bird box can be very rewarding if you have the space, however some simpler suggestions are to leave a patch of grass uncut for ground-dwelling insects, add a shallow dish of water for birds and pollinators or plant native wildflowers if you have space – favourites like oxeye daisies, knapweed and red clover are ideal.

With  many spring flowering trees and shrubs, the gardens are full of energy as buds burst and treat us to some truly wonderful displays. Our rhododendron and azalea collection are just beginning their vibrant displays and will continue through May.

Amongst our collection look out for Rhododendron irroratum with soft pink flowers and deep purple spots or Rhododendron thomsonii – Blood-red, bell-shaped blooms with almost translucent petals that glow in the sunlight.

Elsewhere the Judas tree, Sercis siliquastrum, delights with bright pink flowers appearing directly on bare branches. Another springtime favourite to look out for is the wedding cake tree (Cornus controversa ‘Variegata’). Named for its graceful, tiered branches that form a natural layered shape, this small tree is an architectural gem.

From 5 to 21 April families will love our Furzey’s Arty Eggs Easter Trail. Wander through the gardens to discover 20 uniquely decorated eggs, each crafted by local artists. Seven new designs, add fresh surprises for returning visitors. Trail maps are available for £3 per child, with normal garden entrance donations applying. Pre-booking your garden entrance online in advance is highly recommended. It’s a delightful way for families to engage with art and nature this Easter.​

We hope you’ll join us at Furzey Gardens this April, we’re open seven days a week from 10am to 4pm. It’s the perfect time to explore the spring blooms, follow the winding paths, and soak up the magic of the season.

And after your wander, why not stop by the tea rooms for a slice of cake or a cream tea on the terrace? We look forward to seeing you www.furzey-gardens.org.

Red azalea with contrasting white narcisuss in foreground.

This article originally appeared as the monthly In The Garden column in the Lymington Times, buy the paper on the second Friday of every month to read the next column first.