FINALLY! APRIL IS HERE! BOY ARE WE READY TO HELP YOU!
Let’s re-cap March. Early March was warm, and we got a good amount of rainfall. But, starting around the middle of March, we turned dry for about 10 days, and our daily high temperatures were cooler than average. We did get some much-needed soaking rain on the 23rd of March, which we welcomed as we got ready to enter April. Because of these below-average temperatures in late March, our soil temperature is still around 50 degrees. This chilly soil temperature tells me that it is still too early to think about planting cold-sensitive plants such as tomatoes, peppers, basil, and many flowering summer annual bedding plants. Conversely, what a great time to plant shrubs, trees, and many perennials.
Remember that our average last frost date is around April 20th. So, don’t get ahead of yourself when planting cold-sensitive plants or beginning to take your tropical houseplants outside.
We have two significant national gardening events this month:
EARTH DAY – MONDAY, APRIL 22 – promoting kindness to our planet.
ARBOR DAY – FRIDAY, APRIL 26 – promoting planting trees to protect our environment.
HERE ARE A FEW APRIL GARDENING THOUGHTS AND CHORES
- When planting this spring, remember the GOLDEN RULE FOR PLANTING: RIGHT PLANT/RIGHT LOCATION. The plant label is a wealth of knowledge, especially the growing dimensions of the plant. Give the plants the space they need to thrive.
- It is usually important to amend the soil at the time of planting. Adding compost to the existing soil is always a good practice.
- Only if necessary, prune early spring blooming shrubs, such as spirea, forsythia, etc., after flowering.
- Now is a good time to plant summer-blooming bulbs such as gladiolas, lilies, caladiums, etc.
- April starts the lawn mowing season. Remember—grasscycling. Grasscycling is leaving your grass clippings on the lawn. Grass clippings are 85% water and break down quickly, returning 20% of their nitrogen to the lawn. DON’T BAG ANY MORE!!!!!
- Fertilize spring-blooming shrubs and trees once they have finished blooming. This includes azaleas, rhododendrons, camellias, etc. ESPOMA HOLLY-TONE or ESPOMA PLANT–TONE is an excellent food for these plants.
PLANT A LITTLE HAPPINESS THIS APRIL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!