Gardener's April To-Do List

Gardening isn’t equal in every region, each specific region needs to be taken care of carefully. Here are some quick tips to get your garden ready for the seasons. Follow these steps and you will see great results. If you want to discover where your gardening zone is head over here and type in your zip code.

Your Zone 3 April ToDo List

-Be sure to dig up any parsnips left over from last season.

-Make sure to dig composts into the soil as soon as it can be worked.

-One of the most important things you can do is fertilize established lawns.

-If you are able to, plant onion sets, lettuce, peas, spinach, sweet peas, carrots, and parsnips.

-Be sure to plant seeds of squash, melons, and parsnips indoors.

-Start your gladiolus corms indoors.

-Help sprout seed potatoes by transferring them from your cold storage into a room temperature environment.

-Be sure to remove winter coverings from roses, perennials, and strawberries in the last week of the month.

Your Zone 4 April ToDo List

-Make sure to plant coldtolerant crops like peas, spinach, radishes, lettuce, and onions once the soil has warmed and dried.

-Plant lilies, primroses, and liliesofthevalley in your flowerbeds.

-You can plant your raspberries as soon as possible, but you must wait until the soil warms to plant strawberries.

-Perennials like daylilies and irises must be dug and divided.

-Be sure to plant tomatoes seeds indoors if you plan on setting them out in protective covering next month.

-Lastly, start broccoli seeds indoors for an early crop, but don’t delay this process because it’ll be too warm soon.

Your Zone 5 April ToDo List

-Once the ground has thawed, divide and replant perennials like asters, bee balm, and hostas.

-Rose and lily bulbs can be planted.

-Transplant early tomatoes outdoors, inside protective Wallo’Waters, once the ground is warm and dry.

-You can seed a second lettuce crop indoors or you can sow them into the garden.

-Before the weather warms sow spinach into the garden to get tender leaves.

Your Zone 6 April ToDo List

-This is important! Clean up your garden, remove any dead plants, rake back winter mulches, and topdress beds with compost. This is something everyone must do to ensure his or her garden is as productive as possible.

-Once you’ve completed the clean up plant potatoes, peas, spinach, beets, turnips, and carrots.

-Be sure to put up a trellis for peas as soon as they sprout. Once again this is very important!

-Perennials like helenium, fall asters, Shasta daisies, chrysanthemums, and phlox must be dug and divided before being replanted.

-Once the weather settles down, plant transplants of pansies,

forgetmenots (Myosotis spp.), foxglove Digitalis spp.), and any other coolweather flowers you can think of.

-Then sow seeds of sweet peas, bachelor’s buttons (Centaurea

cyanus), and larkspur (Consolida ajacis) in your flowerbeds.

Your Zone 7 April ToDo List

-Hot weather will soon arrive causing plants to seed rather than forming edible heats. So be careful. If you need an example take a walk through the broccoli and cabbage section of your local garden center.

-Place branches into the ground to support your crops.

-Thin out crowded carrots, chard, and lettuce. This will produce better results.

-Keep your coolseason crops cool and moist by mulching around their base.

-Then be sure to grab new azalea and rhododendron bushes while they are in bloom to add some color to your landscape.

Your Zone 8 April ToDo List

-Make sure you give your flowers and vegetables a foliar feeding of liquid seaweed or compost tea. Spray the liquid nutrients on the foliage. Make sure to do this early in the day before the temperature rises.

-Then plant blackeyed, purple hull and crowder peas, okra, peanuts, sweet potatoes, squash, melons, cucumbers, and corn. All of which can withstand the heat and will sprout in about 2 months.

-Make sure to keep planting basil because it loves the warm weather.

-Then plant “bulb” of caladium, calla, gladiolus, and water lilies.

-Keep building your compost to fertilize your garden better.

-Last but not least make sure you replenish your mulch!

Your Zone 9 April ToDo List

-Don’t let slugs and snails destroy your crop! You can easily spot them at night so be sure to take a look. The last thing you would want are these buggers ruining your spring garden preparations.

-Heat thriving vegetables like summer squash and melons can be planted.

-To extend your harvest plant bush beans and sweet corn until frosting begins.

-You can also thin the fruit on your fruit trees to increase their size. Bigger fruit is always better!

-Begin to plant summer bedding plants like petunias, lisianthus (Eustoma grandiflorum), wax begonias, and impatiens.

-Then plant perennials such as ornamental alliums, bellflowers (Campanula spp.), daisies, yarrow, daylilies, coreopsis, penstemon, perennial geraniums (Geranium spp.), iris, and statice.

Your Zone 10 April ToDo List

-Make sure you plant perennials so they can settle down before the heat arrives. Don’t forget to give them lots of water.

-This is a great time to plant heat loving bedding plants like vinca (Catharanthus roseus), strawflowers (Helichrysum bracteatum), blanket flowers (Gaillardia spp.), and gazanias.

-Then plant roselle (Hibiscus sabdariffa), amaranth, and Malabar spinach (Basella alba) all the way through August. Take special care of the Malabar spinach, give them extra shade and water.

-Place trellis tropical cucurbits (luffa, chayote, and Tahitian squash) on a fence so you can produce the best results.

-Try tropical edibles like malanga, gingerroot, and other market finds. Then cut them into pieces, at least 1⁄2 inch long, and then plant them. You can harvest them from OctoberDecember.

-If you follow these tips your spring garden preparation will go by with ease. With that said you will be able to enjoy your beautiful garden this season. Good luck!