APRIL IS ALL ABOUT GETTING READY

Clean Your Garden and remove weeds, winter mulch and debris before digging and preparing the garden for planting. After clearing all the debris, nourish your soil with compost or well-rotted manure. If you don’t have compost or manure, apply a slow-release fertilizer.

Select and Plant Perennial Herbs such as Thyme, Lavender, Oregano, Chives, Mint and Sage. They require a sunny spot that gets at least 6-8 hours of direct sunlight daily.

Grow a Salad Garden including Swiss Chard, Beets, Lettuce. Arugula, Carrots, Radishes.  If your short on space grow a salad garden in a pot or planter by your kitchen door

Improve Lawns by applying slow-release fertilizer this early spring. As the name suggests, ‘slow-release’ means the fertilizer is slowly released into the soil over a long period. After fertilizing, reseed all patches of dead or damaged grass in your lawn and water daily until the seed germinates.

Prune Spring Flowering Bulbs such as Daffodils, Hyacinths and Tulips. Clipping off their flower stalks encourages the plants to store energy in their bulbs instead of setting seed.  Leave the foliage alone until it fades naturally.

Add Birdhouses that are designed for songbirds such as Bluebirds, Wrens, Purple Martens and Chickadees.  Make sure the houses have the appropriate size entrance hole for the spices you want to attract. No need for perches: birds don’t use them, but predators do.

Organize and Clean your garden tools and supplies.  Get rid of flower pots, tools and gadgets you won’t be using.  Make a list of items you might need. 

Plant Your Container Garden. Think about nice container flower combinations and follow a technique like spiller-filler-thriller.

Prune Your Trees and Deciduous Shrubs and remove any dead and sickly looking leaves or branches. This stimulates new plant growth and spring flowering. Be sure to fertilize and also mulch your trees and shrubs. Planting and transplanting should be done by June.

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