In an English Country Garden - April 2025 Update

Red Admiral on our Sour Cherry Tree.
NB click on any photo to see it full size

After a slow start to April the garden has now burst into life, the change really got going in the third week of the month after we finally got some (although not enough) much needed rain.

The average temperature (at time of writing) for the month was 10C / 50F (compared with 5.8C / 42.5f in March). The coldest night was -2.1C / 28.2F and the warmest day was 25.1C / 77.2F so we avoided the extreme cold seen in March.

As mentioned we have had some rain but nothing like what we normally expect, so far in April we have only seen 21.2mm (0.87 inches) of rain compared with the long term average of 40mm (1.57 inches) and this follow one of the driest March rainfall figures on record. If this continues the summer months will be tough on the plants and wildlife.

Photograph: A Red-Legged Partridge (Alectoris rufa) checking out our front garden.

We have had a very good blossom season this year, the sharpest of the frost we had occurred at the beginning of the the month before the majority had started to emerge.

With the continuing warm weather there is a good chance that the apple, cherry and pear trees will be able to set fruit... the next challenge will be to stop the birds eating the cherries before I do !

Many flowers are now in bloom including (in no particular order) Bluebells, Honesty, Wall Flowers, Yellow Archangel, Primroses, Rosemary, Dead Nettles - in various forms and Tulips.

Gardening jobs have included general tidying up, filling a skip with the remains of an old wooden shed and the last of the damaged fencing panels which we had replaced. As we are taking part in a local 'Open Gardens' day in June with have also started general repairs on path ways and stone work around the garden to make sure that there are minimal hazards for our guests.

Last but not least we have begun the perennial summer job of trying to keep the more invasive weeds (e.g. bind weed) from taking over the garden.

Photograph: Four types of blossom. Sweet Cherry (front), Pear (right), Apple (Left), Sour Cherry (back)

Along with the surge of blossoms and blooms we seen a rapid increase in the number and variety of wildlife seen in the garden.

The garden has been literally buzzing with the sound of pollinators. These include several varieties of Bumble Bee, Honey Bees, Bee Flies and Drone Flies.

We have also identified at least five types of butterfly - Peacock, Red Admiral, Brimstone, Green-Veined, Orange Tip - plus a variety of moths (which I've not got close enough to identify).

The nesting season is in full swing, as we leave out nesting material (raw wool, moss, untreated wood shavings and the like) we have been able to observe which species have been gathering material. So far we have spotted Blue Tit, Great Tit, House Sparrow, Jackdaw, Robin, there are almost certainly more but we don't spend all day looking at the bedding box !

Picture; Blue Tit gathering bedding for it's nest

Some of the plants that have come into flower since the last update:

Top Row, Left to Right: Dandelion and Forget-me-not, Tulip, Honesty, Apple Blossom, Tulip, Red Dead Nettle.

Bottom Row, Left to Right: Spirea, Wall Flower, Daisy, Bluebells and Yellow Archangel, Greater Celandine, Cherry Laurel Blossom

This is a selection of the invertebrates spotted in the garden in April:

Top Row, Left to Right: Honey Bee, Female Hairy Footed Flower Bee, Red Admiral, Buff-Tailed Bumble Bee

Bottom Row: Bee-Fly, Green Veined Butterfly, Female Hairy Footed Flower Bee (Probably, please feel free to correct me), Ten Spotted Ladybird.

That's it for this month. Next month the garden will be in full swing, we should be seeing Oriental poppies, Roses, Guelder Rose and and many, many more

Photograph: Donald and Daphne, our resident ducks, have been getting 'amorous' will we be hearing the patter of tiny webbed feet ? Check back at the end of May....