Titchmarsh has spent fifty years discussing April for a reason. He has written over fifty books and hosted more television shows than most people can remember, so he’s not running out of ideas. It is April that truly sets the tone for everything that takes place in the garden. Summer will reward you if you do it correctly. During the warmer months, you can try to catch up. It’s impossible to disagree with Titchmarsh’s gentle but tenacious argument after all this time.
The 76-year-old former apprentice gardener started his career in Ilkley before receiving training at the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew. Plant by plant and season by season, it was constructed gradually over a period that most horticulturists would find difficult to match. He uses all of that knowledge in his current YouTube series, Gardening with Alan Titchmarsh, which returns in April with Gardena as its sponsor. As a result, it is condensed into helpful, uncondescending advice that made him a household name in the first place.
The lawn should be mowed in April, according to Titchmarsh. It’s not the most glamorous task-which it isn’t-but because most people don’t have as much time as they think to get it done correctly. In this time of year, moss is the biggest threat, and his advice is simple: rake the surface methodically with a wire-tooth rake to remove the moss before it spreads further. Then, reseeding bare patches is preferable to covering them with turf, which may require more time to integrate. The hosepipe trick, which Titchmarsh recommends laying flat on the lawn to use as a guide for cutting clean, straight edges along borders, is a minor detail worth mentioning. Until you try it, it sounds almost too easy to be helpful. The system works.
As attention shifts from the lawn to the vegetable patch, Titchmarsh cautions against rushing. His position is quite firm: soil that sticks and clumps when squeezed is too wet and too cold for seeds, which will rot in the ground instead of sprouting. The test is whether the soil crumbles. If it does, you’re prepared. His advice is to enrich beds with organic soil improvers and blood, fish, and bone meal before planting in straight rows. You can use a taut string or a hosepipe laid out in this manner. After tickling the seeds into the surface with a fork and thoroughly watering them, they are planted. It is almost ceremonial to watch the first rows of seeds being planted in April with the soil still holding the slight chill of March beneath its warming surface.
Perennials that are hardy are another priority for April. Scabiosa, ferns, English lavender, and a hardy geranium called Wargrave Pink are recommended by Titchmarsh as reliable options that can be planted now to take advantage of the warming conditions without the stress of midsummer heat. By planting in April, roots can establish themselves before the garden’s actual demands in June and July. Also mentioned are cherry trees that bloom; these plants provide a fleeting springtime spectacle that feels almost excessive in the best way possible, with branches disappearing under blossom before the majority of the garden has fully woken up.
This season, Titchmarsh has been offering helpful advice on two pest issues that irritate British gardeners the most: rats and slugs. Around plants that are susceptible to slugs, he recommends using coarse, rough materials. While this type of surface may seem low-tech, it usually produces results without the use of chemicals, which many gardeners are now trying to avoid. Rats’ message is even simpler: eliminate the conditions that attract them. Overnight standing bird food, fallen fruit, and exposed compost. Rats are opportunists, so Titchmarsh notes that removing their opportunities tends to drive them away more consistently than trapping.
Even though it might not be a good idea to deadhead daffodils just yet, the advice is often ignored. It’s easy to put away faded flowers when they fade. The bulb will flower the following year if the foliage is allowed to die back naturally. Titchmarsh is patient in a way that seems outdated but may be justified. As a result of gardening culture’s emphasis on neatness, there is a sense that short-term aesthetics sometimes take precedence over long-term needs. April is about what’s to come, he tells everyone who will listen. It’s not just what you see right now.