There’s much to do in the garden in April, from finalizing your garden plan, attending to your tools, to the annual spring clean up and pruning and lawn and vegetable garden prep, and PLANTING, DIVIDING and TRANSPLANTING!
We have your checklist and the information and products you’ll need this month, here.
For most hardy perennials, trees and shrubs, April is an excellent time to plant. Most of our stock is already hardened off and ready for the great outdoors.
It’s also a great time to divide clumping perennials. There are a few exceptions that don’t take well to root disturbance in spring, like Peonies and Irises, but it’s the perfect time to divide Shasta daisies, Asters, Geraniums, Beebalm, Daylilies, tall garden Phlox, Coreopsis, Sulfur Buckwheat, Raspberries, and many others.
In the vegetable garden, cool-season crops can now be seeded, especially root crops and leafy greens, leeks and shallots. And heading vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage plants that were started indoors can be planted out with some temporary protection. Asian greens, mustards, arugula, endive, lettuce, Swiss chard, collards and kale plants can also be hardened off and planted out in the garden this month with temporary protection kept at the ready.
Tools for Weeding and Transplanting
Find, clean, sharpen and buy new garden tools if you didn’t do this in the fall. We have a great selection of long and short-handled tools, gloves, snips, trowels, weeders, and more.
Spring clean up and pruning – insects that sheltered in garden debris have been hatching out into the garden and it’s time to remove old stems and dead leaves. When removing hollow stems, take a moment to check for the presence of larvae or eggs inside. Shear clump grasses down to 2-4” now. In late April it’s usually safe to prune rose bushes. Most climbing and ‘bush’ clematis leaf out very early and benefit from pruning in February and March, so if you haven’t yet, prune them back to strong growth low on the plants now. Summer-blooming shrubs like Bluemist Spirea, Butterfly Bush (davidii selections), Rose of Sharon, and Russian Sage can be pruned now, as they will bloom on new wood. DO NOT PRUNE SPRING-BLOOMING SHRUBS until AFTER they’ve bloomed (unless you need to prune off damaged wood).
Aerate traditional lawns and follow up with a compost topdressing and an application of Corn Gluten, the safe, nontoxic fertilizer and pre-emergent weed control. Effects last up to 6 months. Plan on re-applying in September/October.
You can top-dress shrub beds with compost now, and add fresh fine wood-chip mulch over it.
Get your vegetable garden going – amend soil with compost and veg fertilizer, then
Direct seed arugula, lettuce, radish, beet, turnip, Asian greens, peas, spinach; plant seed potato, asparagus crowns and strawberry plants (or bare-root strawberry plants).
Cover seedbeds with Seed Guard fabric to protect them from drying out, digging by critters, etc.
Start seeds indoors or outdoors for hardy annuals like Cosmos, Nierembergia, Desert Bluebells, annual Poppies, Tickseed.
Transplant cool-season starts: leafy greens, onions, brassicas (broccoli, cabbage, brussels sprouts), chives, parsley, cilantro, shallots, leeks, lettuce, kale, chard.
Transplant first tomatoes and protect with Solar Caps for the earliest harvests on your block! Pre-heat the soil for ~1 week prior to transplanting by erecting and filling Solar Caps in place, or covering tomato area with heavy-weight clear or black plastic.
Prepare for spring frosts – with Ensulate mid-weight row cover.
Harvest Nettles and steam (like spinach or other greens with olive oil and garlic), or dry for tea.
Prepare for lawn removal and native planting: finalize your design and plant list.