Kitchen Garden.—Sow main crops of wrinkled marrow peas; Longpod and Windsor beans; cabbage, onions, leeks, Early Horn carrots, parsnips, salsafy, scorzonera, Brussels sprouts, borecoles, lettuces and spinach. In the beginning and also at the end of the month sow Early Strap-leaf and Early Snowball turnips and savoys. In the last fortnight sow asparagus, cauliflower and the various sweet and savoury herbs; also sea-kale, radishes, celery, celeriac and parsley. Small salads should be sown every ten days. Make up beds for mushrooms with well-prepared dung towards the end of the month. Plant early potatoes in the first week, and a main crop during the last fortnight. Sea-kale, asparagus and peas raised in frames may now be planted; also garlic and shallots. Full crops of cabbages should be planted out; also cauliflowers under hand-glasses. Propagate by slips, or by earthing up the old stems, the various pot-herbs.
Fruit Garden.—Finish the pruning of fruit trees before the middle of the month. Protect those coming into blossom. Begin grafting in the third week; dig and dress between the rows of gooseberries, currants and other fruit trees, if not already done. Kill wasps assiduously as soon as they appear.
Forcing.—Continue the forcing of melons, cucumbers, tomatoes and the various fruits. In the vinery and peach-house, attend to the keeping down of insects by syringing; and promote the growth of the young shoots, by damping the walls and paths morning and evening. Sow capsicum and tomato; also in slight heat such tender herbs as basil and marjoram.
Plant Houses.—More water may be given than formerly. Sow seeds of greenhouse and hothouse plants; also the different sorts of tender annuals; pot off those sown last month; sow cineraria for the earliest bloom; also Chinese primulas. Shift heaths and other hard-wooded subjects and stove-plants; plant tuberoses in pots for forcing. Begin to propagate greenhouse plants by cuttings; also coleuses by cuttings in heat, potting them off as soon as rooted.
Flower Garden and Shrubbery.—In the last week, sow hardy annuals in the borders, with biennials that flower the first season, as also perennials. Plant anemone and ranunculus roots and the corms of gladiolus. Transplant from the nursery to their final sites annuals sown in autumn, with biennials and herbaceous plants. Propagate perennials from root-slips and offsets. Continue to propagate the finer sorts of dahlias, both by cuttings and by division of the roots. Finish the pruning of all deciduous trees and hedges as soon as possible. Attend to the dressing of shrubberies; lay turf-edgings, and regulate the surface of gravel walks.
April
Kitchen Garden.—Sow asparagus, sea-kale, Turnip-rooted beet, salsafy, scorzonera, skirret, carrots and onions on heavy soils; also marrow peas, Longpod and Windsor beans, turnips, spinach, celery, cabbage, savoys and Brussels sprouts for succession. Sow broccoli and kidney-beans both in the second and in the last week, and lettuces and small salads twice or thrice during the month; sow all herbs, if not done last month. Sow vegetable marrow. Plant cauliflower, cabbages, sea-kale, lettuce; and finish the planting of the main crops of potatoes; divide and replant globe-artichokes. Propagate all sorts of pot-herbs, and attend to the hoeing and thinning of spinach, onions, turnips, carrots, beet, &c. Earth up cabbages, cauliflower, peas, beans and early potatoes. Stake up peas; blanch sea-kale and rhubarb in the open air by covering with straw or leaves.
Fruit Garden.—If vines have been neglected to be pruned, rub off the buds that are not wanted; this is safer than pruning now. Protect the finer sorts of fruit trees on the walls. The hardier orchard-house fruits should now be moved outdoors under temporary awnings, to give the choicer fruits more space,—the roots being protected by plunging the pots. Mulch all newly-planted fruit trees, watering abundantly in dry weather.
Forcing.—Continue the preparation of succession beds and pits for cucumbers and melons. Sow; pot tomatoes and capsicums for succession. Pollinate tomatoes by hand to ensure early fruit on plants intended for outdoor culture. In the forcing-houses, from the variable state of the weather, considerable vigilance is required in giving air. Keep down red spider (Acarus) in the more advanced houses by frequent syringings and a well-moistened atmosphere. Continue the usual operations of disbudding and thinning of fruit, and take care to keep up the proper temperatures.
Plant Houses.—Still sow tender annuals if required; also cinerarias and primulas. Proceed with all necessary shiftings. Propagate rare and fine plants by cuttings or grafting; increase bouvardias by cuttings, and grow on for winter flowering. Pot off tender annuals, and cuttings of half-hardy greenhouse plants put in during February to get them well established for use in the flower garden. Transfer chrysanthemums to sheltered positions out of doors, and provide means of protecting them from frost and cutting winds.