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- Summer-flowering shrubs such as Anthony Waterer spirea and Annabelle hydrangea may be cut back to the ground. These plants bloom on new wood and will quickly grow back and bloom in mid-summer.
- Lightly rake your lawn to remove dead grass, sticks and debris. April is also a good time to rent a core aerator and go over high-traffic areas two or three times to reduce soil compaction.
- Start tomato seeds indoors using a sterile soil mix that is keptuniformly moist. Provide good light and transplant seedlings into 4-inch pots when they are about 1 inch tall. Keep the plants indoors in a warm, bright place until they are transplanted outdoors in late May.
- Seed bare spots in your lawn using a mix of Kentucky bluegrass, perennial ryegrass and creeping red fescue. Dead grass must be raked to make sure the seed is in direct contact with bare soil.
- Spread fertilizer under roses, apple trees, grape vines and strawberries. Trees, shrubs and evergreens may be fertilized if they grew slowly or had smaller, light-green leaves last season.
Garden Maintenance
- Clean up gardens by cutting back the dead tops of perennials, raking out leaves, removing winter mulch and pulling any volunteer trees or shrubs that you may have missed last year. Prepare gardens for planting by mixing in compost or sphagnum peat moss and slow-release fertilizer.
- Early spring is the best time to divide flowering perennials. Clumps that are 4 to 5 years old may be dying in the center or have fewer, smaller flowers. Use a spading fork to lift the whole clump and a heavy knife or sharp spade to cut the healthy, outer parts up into four or five divisions, each containing some good roots and several shoots that will grow quickly when replanted at the same depth in rich garden soil.
- Encourage migrating birds to stop in your yard or take up residence by supplying food, water, nesting materials, birdhouses and plantings of tall shrubs, evergreens and plants with berries, seeds or nectar for hummingbirds.
What to Plant
- Pansies are much tougher than the name implies and may be planted outdoors in gardens or containers in April.
- Trees, shrubs and evergreens will benefit from April showers, and early planting gives these plants time to grow new roots that help the plants deal with hot and dry conditions that are sure to come later in the growing season.
- Cool-season vegetables such as leaf lettuce, spinach, radishes and onion sets may be planted outdoors as soon as the soil is dry enough to work.
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Peter Moe is the director of operations at the University of Minnesota Landscape Arboretum in Chanhassen. Peter is responsible for the design, construction and maintenance of the Arboretum's gardens, model landscapes and native plant restorations. www.arboretum.umn.edu
