Snapdragons in my spring garden
- Plant annuals and perennials now. Some popular annuals include hollyhocks, ageratum, impatiens, marigolds, nasturtiums, petunias, salvia, snapdragons, and zinnias. For perennials, you may want to try daylilies, hostas, phlox and Shasta daisies, or perhaps Gloriosa daisies, ginger lilies, peonies, and decorative and delicious herbs like sweet woodruff, chives, lavender, oregano and thyme.
- For the vegetable garden, plant beans, cantaloupe, field peas, okra, peppers, squash, sweet corn, tomatoes and watermelons.
- Ladybugs eat aphids, so encourage and protect them in your garden.
- Time to put out slug bait or mix a solution of four tbsp. of aluminum sulphate in a gallon of water and spray AFTER SUNDOWN.
- Still not too late to prune evergreen shrubs. Now is also the time to shape those early blooming azaleas and camellias which have already finished blooming. This is also the time to fertilize all of these plants. Use special acidic fertilizer for camellias and azaleas. An application of Ironite will make all your shrubs a more beautiful deep green. 10-10-10 works fine for most shrubs (your lawn fertilizer is generally 10-10-10).
- If you have trees in the middle of your lawn, you really don’t need to fertilize.
- Time to put out bulbs for summer. Also, time to fertilize your bulbs that have just finished blooming. One teaspoon of 5-10-15 per s/f.
- Perennials will soon be picked over and gone, so do your perennial planting now. Time to divide your existing perennials, as well.
- Control aphids early in the season by applying malathion or insecticidal soap. Encourage ladybugs – they dine on aphids. If you are encouraging ladybugs, don’t kill them with insecticide, however.
- Don’t forget to leave room for all the annuals which fill in your garden between perennial blooms.
- Roses need feeding now. Any pruning from winter can be done now but don’t forget they bloom on old wood. Also, begin your fungicide spraying to prevent black spot.
- Spray your lawn for broadleaf weeds now, on a warm sunny day, preferably in the afternoon. But it is too late to spray a non-selective herbicide like RoundUp or Finale on Bermuda lawns. The Bermuda is no longer dormant and could be affected.
- April is time to sprig or sod new lawn areas and to fill in bare spots in existing lawns. Add soil to level low spots.
- You can clip off the dead heads, but leave the foliage on your bulbs – it is part of the bud forming process for next year. Just double them and slip a rubber band over them to tuck them out of sight until they die away.
- Get out your file and sharpen all your tools and clean and spray clippers with WD40 or a similar lubricant. Get a new plug for the lawn mower and clean it up.
- Purchase azaleas and rhododendrons now while they are in bloom so you can see their color. Don’t forget to pay close attention to size – they come in all sizes and you don’t want to lose your view out that front window!
- Clean up your groundcover areas. Often groundcovers are buried under winter leaf debris. Gently rake the leaves away to encourage faster growth. If you haven’t mowed your liriope yet to remove winter damage, do so now – the new sprouts are coming out!
Add to Google