Things to do in the APRIL garden

• Plant gladiolus corms and dahlia roots this month, and consider expanding your garden's display of summer flowerbulbs with fragrant Abyssinian sword lily (Acidanthera) and tiger flower (Mexican shell flower, Tigridia).

• Weed and clean the garden. Clip dead growth from ground covers and perennials. Remove faded flowers from winter heathers.

• When the ground is dry enough, rake lawns thoroughly, aerate if the soil is compacted, and fertilize. And, HERE'S A TIP the golf courses use: spread some sand after aeration -- it will do wonders to clean out moss and make for a healthy root system.

• Continue pinching back fuchsia stems immediately above pairs of leaves for full, bushy, flower-filled plants this summer.

• Plant spring bulbs that have finished flowering in pots into the garden.

• DEADHEAD BULBS (daffodils, hyacinths and tulips) after the flowers fade. Remove the spent bloom at its base, leaving the stem.

• As you work in the garden this month, watch for suitable empty spots where spring bulbs could be planted in the fall. Note the sites in a garden diary or on a calendar.

• ROOT CUTTINGS taken from new growth on house plants such as hibiscus and poinsettia.

• Move tomato transplants to deeper pots as roots fill current containers.

• Prior to planting vegetables and annual flowers dig up to 10 cm (four inches) of compost or composted manure into the plots, along with a balanced natural-source, slow-release fertilizer -- a generous handful scattered over every square yard (metre).

• PLANT POTATOES this month.

• TRANSPLANT ONIONS early. A long period of strong green growth in spring will translate into the development of large bulbs in summer.

• Complete outdoor spring seedings of root vegetables, peas, cabbage, broccoli, and cauliflower. Seed nasturtium, clarkia, alyssum, nigella (love-in-a-mist), cornflower, candytuft, godetia and sunflower outdoors.

• SOW INDOORS in peat or plastic pots: marigold, zinnia and basil early in the month, and melons, cucumbers and squash after mid-April, for transplanting in May when the weather and soil are warm.

• Lettuce, carnations, sweet peas, calendula and stocks can be TRANSPLANTED into the garden this month. But wait until the warmth of late May to transplant cold-shy plants such as zonal or garden geranium (Pelargonium hortorum), petunia, impatiens, zinnia, marigold, and heat-loving edibles such as eggplant, peppers, and tomatoes except cold-tolerant varieties like Oregon Spring.

• Save space by tucking lettuce transplants next to net-supported pea rows. If slugs are a problem, lay a line of crushed egg shells around the lettuce transplants.

• Set up stakes or cages for perennials such as delphinium and peony that will require some support as they develop.

• Plastic or glass enclosures over blooming STRAWBERRIES should be removed during the day to allow entry to pollinating insects.

• Dig and divide clumps of primrose when flowering has finished. Pull the clumps apart into individual crowns, and replant in a site that is protected from hot direct sun and where the soil is moist and humusy.

• As soon as flowering has finished, PRUNE forsythia, flowering currant and other deciduous shrubs that bloom early in the spring.

• Plant baskets with cold-tender flowers if you have a place to keep them sheltered until the warm weather.

• When preparing wire hanging baskets this month, boost their moisture retention capacity by setting a plastic saucer inside the base.

• Remove about a third of the old soil in large containers and replace it with fresh. Mix a little slow- release fertilizer into the top soil layers.