This is the perfect time to divide and replant any perennials that flower late in the summer, such as echinaceas, heleniums and Michaelmas daisies, giving them plenty of time to settle back in and bulk up before flowering time comes around again. This will reinvigorate any plants that have started producing fewer or smaller flowers each year, and it will give you more plants. Split into a few pieces with two garden forks and replant with fresh compost, or give away to friends.
Veg plot
You can start a nursery bed in a sheltered, sunny corner of your veg beds this month, particularly if the weather has been good and the soil has been warmed. It will free up space in the greenhouse, and you can plant the seedlings out in their final places in a couple of months. Prepare your chosen bed really carefully, mixing in compost and making sure you create a fine tilth to the soil, so that there are no big lumps and gaps for the little seeds to fall between. Sow Brussels sprouts, cabbage, calabrese, sprouting broccoli, cauliflowers, leeks and onions here, in rows and labelled.
Balcony pots
It is always good to have something scented to hand and clove pinks are among the loveliest, compact, pretty and clove-scented. They do really well in pots and on balconies as they love good drainage and lots of light, and form a neat mound of silvery foliage. ‘Gran’s Favourite’ is a pretty pale-flowered cultivar with dark pink edges to its many ruffled petals. Pot up into peat-free compost mixed with plenty of grit, and water and feed well all summer.
Greenhouse
If sweetcorn isn’t sown this month, it may run out of time to produce cobs before the end of the season. Sow in pots under cover to plant out in mid-May. You can also prepare the bed where you are going to plant them out – they do best in a rich soil so dig in lots of organic matter such as garden compost or well-rotted manure. They should be planted in a block with 40-50cm between plants each way, as they are wind pollinated and this way are more likely to catch the pollen that the other plants in the block shed.
