Gardening calendar April 2023

It's the middle of autumn and the best time to plant pretty much anything (but tropicals) while the soil is still warm and rain is supplying moisture. Autumn is also particularly good to get citrus trees.

• Planting
• Feeding
• Pruning, Maintenance & Harvest
• Lawn Care
• Pest Control

Planting

Soil

• Enrich soil before planting with Bailey Soil Improver Plus or for sandy soils use Baileys Soil Matters Clay & Compost. Clay & Compost permanently improves nutrient and water holding capacity by combining quality organic compost, aged chicken manure, rock minerals and kaoline clay. This will help your new editions establish well before the cooler months, read more. 
• Prepare soil as above for deciduous fruit trees and roses for winter planting. 

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Flowers & Ornaments

• Spring flowering bulbs make an impressive display in any garden and the ideal time to plant in Perth is from late March to early May when the weather and soil has started to cool, read more on Planting Bulbs in WA. 
• Sow poppy, Forget Me Not, Calendula, Lobelia and Delphinium seeds. Sow everlasting seed by the handful after first rains for a blast of spring colour.
• Plant or pot up pansies, violas, polyanthus, cineraria for cool season colour. Use Baileys Premium Potting Mix.
• It is time to pot up cyclamen from last season. Use a top quality free draining potting mix like Baileys Premium Potting Mix and be careful to position the corm so that it is half in the soil and half out.

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Vegetables & Herbs

• In the vegetable garden its planting time as the early rains promise to take care of watering. Plant all members of the onion tribe including shallots, leeks, chives, onions, spring onions and garlic. The cabbage family is huge particularly when you add in the Oriental types. All can be planted now so don't forget pak choi, mibuna, mizuna, Wong Bok, broccoli, cabbage , Brussels sprouts, cauliflower and so on. Also lettuce, silver beet, Swiss chard, English spinach, peas, broad beans turnip, Swede, carrots, Florence fennel, endive, kohlrabi, beetroot and potatoes.
• Use individual cloves of garlic for planting. These bulbs can be planted about 5cm deep pointy end up in a well-draining, organic rich soil and a sunny spot. They take 6-8 months or more to mature.
• Rhubarb crowns can be lifted, divided and replanted into rich soil for another year of growth and productivity.  

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Fruits

• Get citrus trees started while soil is warm and rain is imminent. The choice of different varieties is very good at this time of the year.

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Pot Plants

• If your outdoor space is limited, bring the garden inside by potting up some indoor plants. The variety in most nurseries now is fantastic. Use Baileys Indoor Premium Potting Mix. 

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Suggested Products

CLAY & COMPOST

INDOOR PREMIUM POTTING MIX

PREMIUM POTTING MIX

SOIL IMPROVER PLUS

Feeding

Vegetables & Herbs

• Baileys Soil Matters Garden is an organic based, broad spectrum plant food which can be applied across the entire garden and veggie patch. It's microbial coating is designed to stimulates healthy population of native soil biology and improve nutrient uptake. 

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Flowers & Ornaments

• The early starters in the camellia family are the sasanqua types. These begin their show in April and progressively open through May and finish up in June. Give them a feed if you haven't already done so.Time to give the lawn a feed, see our lawn section for advice.

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Suggested Products

SOIL MATTERS® GARDEN

Pruning, Maintenance & Harvest