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Finally, it’s April!

April is one of the busiest months in the vegetable garden, with sowing, planting, protecting seedlings, and preparing beds for the growing season.

In this guide, therefore, I’ll show you:

• what to sow outdoors
• how to protect seedlings from frost
• how to prevent pests
• essential maintenance tasks

Let’s break down garden tasks we can do in April:

April Garden Checklist (Quick Overview)

Every April I feel the real gardening season finally begins. If you only have time for a few things, focus on these essential April garden tasks:

• Weed garden beds early
• Harden off seedlings
• Sow vegetables outdoors
• Fertilise plants
• Protect seedlings from frost
• Prevent pests
• Plant tomatoes in greenhouse
• Plant strawberries
• Support pollinators

Here’s a quick overview of the most important garden tasks to tackle in April.

Weed Garden Beds Early

✔️ Why it matters: Weeds compete for nutrients

Earlier in March, we removed the mulch from the patches so the sun could warm the soil. With rising temperatures, however, weeds will also find their way towards the light. To be honest, I underestimate every year how fast they actually grow once it’s a bit warmer…

Now, when they’re still small, is the right time to pull them out and keep the patches free for our vegetables.

Quick tip: Weed after rain when the soil is loose.

Harden off Seedlings Before Planting

✔️ Why it matters: Plants must get used to outdoor conditions

Some of the vegetables we have seed-started indoors during the last weeks can be planted outdoors in April. Before we do that, we must harden them off so they won’t get a shock when they move from that cosy, protected atmosphere indoors to the outside garden, where temperatures are colder and the wind can blow harshly.

Imagine you were plonked from your cosy, warm couch and dropped into an ice bath. You wouldn’t like that, would you? Unless you’re regularly taking ice baths. In that case, forget this comparison, you freak, but harden off your seedlings anyway.

To harden off our seedlings, we put them outside in the shade. At first, for a few hours and each day longer. After about a week, they can be planted outside in our April vegetable garden.

In this article, you’ll learn which vegetables you can plant outdoors in April.

Quick tip: Put seedlings out for a few hours and gradually prolong the time.

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Sow and Plant Vegetables Outdoors in April

✔️ Why it matters: April is the starting time for our vegetable garden.

The greatest garden task in April is sowing and planting! So many vegetables can now be sown and planted outdoors, cabbage, leeks, radishes and peas being only some of them. Here you’ll find a complete guide of vegetables you can sow and plant outdoors in April.

We’re laying the groundwork for our summer harvest now!

Quick tip: Make a planting plan and get started.

Fertilise vegetables

✔️ Why it matters: Plants need nutrients to grow optimally.

Our vegetables have outgrown the baby and toddler stage and are now teenagers. Ravenous teenagers! Which means they need plenty of food, or in that case, fertiliser. Gardening in April, therefore, involves fertilising our vegetables.

After planting our seedlings outdoors, they’ll be grateful for a healthy dose of organic liquid fertiliser to push their growth.

Never knew what nutrients vegetables need? Find a comprehensive nutrient overview here.

Quick tip: Use homemade nettle manure to fertilise your plants.

Protect seedlings from cold

✔️ Why it matters: Young plants can freeze to death when it gets too cold.

Sowing and planting outdoors brings so much fun, but remember that it can still get cold, especially during the nights. In my hardiness zone 7b, the danger of frosts won’t be over before mid-May! Thus, the April vegetable garden still needs some protection against harsh weather conditions.

Check out your hardiness zone to learn when the last frosts can be expected.

To protect our sensitive seeds and baby vegetables from harsh weather, we must cover them with a fleece. Although that won’t seem much, it will be enough to keep the air and soil underneath well above freezing.

Quick tip: Watch the weather forecast and cover your seedlings with a garden fleece when temperatures drop below 5 °C (40 °F).

Protect cabbage and leeks from pests

✔️ Why it matters: Pests can destroy your harvest.

Cabbage and leeks that we can plant outdoors now are especially prone to pests like the cabbage white butterfly and the leek fly. To protect them, we can cover them with a protective net, which is much lighter than a fleece. It won’t keep off the cold, only the pests. Most often, you can buy protective nets as a set with half-arches that you can stick across the vegetables and put the net on top. That way, our plants have plenty of room to grow while being safe from pests. Just make sure that you fix the net thoroughly into the ground.

By the way, celery is a good companion for cabbage. In the unlikely event that a cabbage fly finds its way under the net, it may find itself repelled by the celery smell.

Quick tip: Protect your plants from the beginning to keep pests out.

Protect your seedlings from snails and slugs

✔️ Why it matters: Slugs feast on seedlings.

Are there any pests more dreaded than snails and slugs? I don’t think so. They are practically everywhere and, especially in spring, eat all they can find. Our seedlings are kind of a huge buffet to them, and if we want to harvest some vegetables for ourselves, we must make sure that snails and slugs won’t get near them!

A good way to keep those little suckers off our seedlings is to put snail collars around them, which they can’t overcome. Or you get out in the wee hours of the morning or in the evening with a bucket and collect them. Choose your way, but I prefer the collars.

Quick tip: Snail fences and collars keep snails off your seedlings.

Plant tomatoes in the greenhouse

✔️ Why it matters: Conditions are warmer in a greenhouse, and your tomatoes will get a head start.

By the end of April, you can plant your tomato seedlings in the greenhouse. It’s still a good deal too early for outdoors, but in the protected atmosphere of a greenhouse – and if there’s no forecast of severe frosts – planting them in the greenhouse is okay.

For more details on how to plant, grow and harvest tomatoes, read this article.

Quick tip: When night temps in your greenhouse don’t fall below 10 °C (50 °F), you can plant the tomatoes.

Plant strawberries in April

✔️ Why it matters: Now’s the best time for planting berries.

Another garden task in April is planting new strawberries and protecting them with a garden fleece if necessary. If you have strawberries in your garden already, remove all wilted leaves now, as they may be infected with diseases. If you want to make strawberry jam this year, plant the berries now!

Quick tip: Prepare the new strawberry bed by loosening the soil and working in some compost.

Attract Pollinators

✔️ Why it matters: Pollinators increase our harvest.

All fruit-bearing vegetables, as well as fruit trees and bushes, need pollinators to produce their fruits. We can help attract all those bees and insects by sowing flower strips as insect pastures, either on the borders of our vegetable garden or in the patches between the plants. Calendula, for example, is not only a great attractor for pollinating insects but can be used for teas as well as an ingredient in many homemade body care products like soap and oil.

For more DIY products, browse through my home and body library.

Quick tip: Add flowers and blooming herbs to your vegetable garden.

Frequently Asked Questions About Gardening in April

Gardening in April raises many questions, especially about planting times and frost protection. Here are the most common ones:

What vegetables can be planted in April?

Hardy crops like peas, radishes, cabbage, and leeks can usually be planted outdoors. Here’s a comprehensive list of vegetables that can be sown and planted in April.

Is April too early to plant tomatoes?

It depends on the hardiness zone. In zone 9 – 11, you may plant tomatoes out in April but in zone 7b, for example, where I live, it’s too early. Instead, I plant my tomatoes into the greenhouse at the end of April when temperatures don’t fall below 10 °C (50 °F) at night.

Do seedlings need frost protection in April?

Yes, nighttime temperatures can still drop below freezing in many regions.

When should seedlings be hardened off?

Start hardening off your seedlings about one week before you intend to plant them out.

Is frost still a risk in April?

Yes, in most hardiness zones it is. Protect your seeds and seedlings with a gardening fleece when temperatures fall below 5 °C (40 °F) at night.

Why April Garden Tasks Matter

After the relatively quiet winter months, April can seem a bit overwhelming. But don’t let the list of tasks discourage you. You don’t have to do everything at once. It’s rather a question of timing and consistency.

Prepare the garden by weeding the patches, sowing and planting your hardened-off seedlings, and then it’s our job to protect the plants from harsh weather and pests and support beneficial insects.

All these tasks will pay off in a few weeks, when we can harvest the first vegetables.

The gardening season has started! Let’s get out and green the world.

Can’t get enough? These articles may also interest you:

How to start a vegetable garden

Crop rotation in vegetable gardening

Calendula Soap (Beginner’s recipe)

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