April Tips

We really want to think that spring is here in April but…….maybe it is and maybe it aint!  We can have beautiful warm days and cold nights.  We all had Easter egg hunts in the snow so the point is don’t be in a hurry to plant. Cool season veggies will do just fine but don’t think that planting tomatoes will give you the first tomato on the block.  What it will give you is either a dead tomato plant or a struggling plant that spends all its energy trying to catch up with the tomato planted in mid May.  Pansies will thrive but most other annuals want warm soil and temperatures.  You can plant containers if you are willing to move them in and out of the garage during cold spells. When you visit our garden center and see greenhouse after greenhouse filled with beautiful color and say “I’ll buy early and keep it in my garage” just ask yourself the question. Will these plants grow better in the greenhouse or the garage?  I know that sometimes we do get a truly early spring but it’s always a gamble and it’s one I personally will not take.

April is the time to complete clean-ups, prepare new garden beds, feed your trees and shrubs if you haven’t done so. You still have time to put Ferti-lome ‘All Seasons’ Fertilizer with crabgrass and weed preventer down.  Remember if you use a pre-emergent on your grass you can not put down grass seed.  A pre-emergent herbicide doesn’t know the difference between grass seed or weed seeds.

Our spring bulbs that we planted last fall should be beautiful about now . Here are some tips on after bloom care for your spring flowering bulbs.
After the blooms from the flower bulbs have faded, “dead-head” them by clipping off the spent blooms so that they won’t go to seed.  The main requirement for bulb flowers after they have bloomed is to keep their leaves so that the plant can put its energy back into its bulb for next spring’s blooming.  The leaves give an energy charge to the bulb through photosynthesis and for this they need to keep their leaves!  This energy or food is stored in the white fleshy part of the bulb for use next spring. This is also a good time to fertilize your bulbs which will make sure you have beautiful blooms next year.

When you mulch, don’t forget your Preen weed preventer.  Remember it only stops seeds from growing, it will not get rid of the weeds already established.

This is a good time to divide perennials such as  hosta or daylilies  just begin to emerge.  You can see the plant but have less risk of damaging the foliage.

If you have any questions regarding gardens, lawns, trees or shrubs please call us at the nursery.  We will be glad to answer any questions and remember there are never any stupid questions just things we need to learn.