Head Gardener’s Notes: April 2026
First published 30th Apr, 2026By Ben Barker, Head Gardener
April has brought plenty of warm days, and with them a reinvigorated sense of optimism for the year to come.
The prime focus at this time of year is finishing forking and weeding the herbaceous border, but we also get to enjoy it in its early phase of flowering as young growth is replaced with the first flowers. The pockets of tulips have been fully on show, and the combination of Persicaria officinalis, Lysimachia ciliata ‘Firecracker’, and Geum ‘Totally Tangerine’ is a personal favourite.
It’s important to gap-fill at this time of year too. Gaps appear where plants either fail, have been moved, or removed, and we’ve been filling them with a range of things including Salvia ‘Nachtvlinder’, Stipa calamagrostis, Cephalaria gigantea, Echinacea ‘Hot Summer’, Phlomis tuberosa ‘Amazone’ and Penstemon ‘Raven’.
Elsewhere the bulb maze by the cherry collection is also coming into its prime, with Camassia ‘Caerulea’, Alliums‘Mount Everest’ and ‘Purple Sensation’ bursting into life.
The Stuttgart Garden has had some attention too. The Luzula nivea grasses have been deadheaded – getting rid of the spent flowers – and where we’d temporarily replaced the dead Buxus topiary around the seasonal bedding with Hebes, there are now 12 Teucrium fruiticans which will also eventually be topiarised. The Hebes have been rehomed in the Camellia Sections.
Our fantastic volunteers have helped add over another 1,000 daffodils to the large area towards the south of the park, planting Narcissus ‘California’ and ‘Holland Sensation’ in one of the few gaps left. The bulbs had been used in another of our sites, and were lifted once they finished flowering.
We ensure growth is left for at least eight weeks after the daffodils flowering before they are cut back – this allows energy to be sent back to the bulb and helps produce the flowers the following season. At last count we were up to 39,000 Narcissus naturalised in that area – lots of work but almost three consecutive months’ worth of flowering interest make it all worth it.
Look out for:
The 2022 Great British Champion Paulownia tomentosa (Foxglove tree) opposite the Summerhouse Café with its stunning purple flowers.
