What to plant in April

April brings the biggest sowing window of the year. Soil is workable, frosts are fading (but not gone), and the greenhouse fills with seedlings ready to harden off.

What to sow in April: Courgettes, pumpkins, squash, cucumbers (indoors); Sweetcorn (indoors); Carrots, parsnips, beetroot, turnips (outdoors); Salad leaves successionally; Annual herbs: basil, coriander, parsley; Hardy and half-hardy annuals.

What to plant in April: Second early and maincrop potatoes; Onion sets, shallots, garlic; Asparagus crowns; Container-grown trees and shrubs; Dahlia tubers (indoors to start).

What to harvest in April: Asparagus (established beds); Spring cabbage; Purple sprouting broccoli; Forced rhubarb, outdoor rhubarb; Radishes (early sowings).

Key jobs for April: Harden off seedlings in a cold frame; Earth up potatoes as shoots emerge; Sow a new lawn or repair bare patches; Stake tall perennials before they flop; Watch for aphids on tender new growth.