Gardening: Monty Don lays out 'jobs for the weekend'
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Monty Don, known for presenting Gardeners’ World since 2003, has shared a plethora of gardening advice throughout his career. Each month the expert shares blog posts of jobs to do in the garden, including how to mow the lawn in April. With the UK experiencing warmer temperatures, the lawn is likely to begin growing at a faster speed than previous months. This means many will be mowing their lawns, but Monty says it is best to “try and restrict mowing”.
April is often a month when gardeners get on top of jobs needing to be done before summer.
Monty wrote: “So cut the grass, weed as much as possible, get perennial plants in the ground, finish mulching, sow some seeds – but in a manageable, enjoyable way.
“Keep it simple. There is still time to spare. If there are jobs that you ought to have done much earlier there are two sensible approaches.
“Either do them right now, a bit later than you should, or leave them until next winter. But having made the decision, act.”
April is often a month when Gardners will do the first cut of the year because days tend to be drier, unless there is a spell of frost.
Last year, Monty urged gardeners to stop mowing the lawn so often and said it is “about the most injurious thing you can do to wildlife”.
In his April 2022 blog post, the expert said to “try and restrict mowing” to help wildlife thrive.
“This will mean different things to different people but long grass is one of the best environments for a huge diversity of wildlife in the garden, and long grass with flowers from bulbs, perennials and annuals is as beautiful as anything else you might grow,” he explained.
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Monty added: “Everybody is happy except perhaps those that see tidiness as the prime aim of gardening and children wanting somewhere to play.
“To satisfy the clatter, very important, it is good to have a patch of mown grass where not only they can play but everyone can lounge and sprawl and enjoy the short grass between their toes.
“But try and restrict mowing as much as possible. In our garden we have reduced it right down to mown paths in the long grass.”
Long grass improves conditions for invertebrates to live in, which can help provide food for birds and mammals such as hedgehogs.
However long gardeners like their grass, Monty said to “resist the temptation to scalp” the grass down to its “midsummer height”.
He added: “Set the blades high and just trim the grass for the first few weeks to even it out.
“Then, as the weather gets warmer and the grass starts to grow more strongly, gradually reduce the height over a few weeks but always keep it slightly on the long side.
“This will result in a much healthier, greener sward.
“Add all clippings to the compost heap but mix it well with dry, brown material like straw or cardboard which will stop it becoming a wet, green sludge.”
The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) said: “A nicely kept lawn sets off a garden.
“Mowing correctly from March to October will keep the grass looking its best.
“In general this means cutting twice a week in summer and once a week in spring and autumn.”
Lawn should always be cut in dry conditions and gardeners should never take off more than one third of the top of the grass.
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