Gardening Checklist for April
By Jodi Torpey
April is one of the best months for getting the landscape ready for summer. Mark your calendar to get these gardening to-do’s done this month.
- Plant trees. Celebrate two April events at once by planting new trees in your landscape. Earth Day and Arbor Day remind us how important it is to keep planting the trees that add so much to our environment. Be sure to match the mature size of your selected trees to the available space in your yard. Use best practices for tree planting by digging a saucer-shaped planting hole that’s three times the root ball diameter. Plant with the top of the root ball at ground level.
- Look for lawn improvements. Now’s the time to evaluate the look of the lawn to see if sod can help. Whether you need to re-sod the entire lawn or just a small section, be sure to prepare the soil before planting and then keep sod watered.
- Buy vegetable and herb seeds for starting. Select seed packets of your favorite vegetables to get a head start on the season. Use seed-starting mix in clean containers and provide the right amount of moisture for seeds to germinate. Grow lights can help seeds get a great start.
- Remove plant wrap from trees. If you wrapped the trunks of young trees in November to protect them from sunscald over winter, it’s time for the unwrapping.
- Plant hardy vegetables. Buy transplants of vegetable plants like broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower and Brussels sprouts. Then give them time to acclimate to the outdoors before planting. Let transplants spend a little more time outside and in the sun each day. Then plant in the vegetable garden.
- Help the Monarch butterflies. Plan now to buy and plant milkweed seeds in your garden. Milkweed plants are an important food source for the young caterpillars that will grow into beautiful butterflies.
- Cut back ornamental grasses. Use a sharp pair of pruning shears or electric hedge trimmers to cut back tall grasses left from last season. Cut a few inches above soil level to give new leaves room to grow.
- Check the sprinkler system. Make sure the sprinkler system is in tiptop shape with an irrigation audit. Check the controller, sprinkler heads and look for leaky valves.
