15 minutes– Install a rain gauge and keep record of the weekly amount of rain in your garden journal. It is a great project for school children. Most plants need at least 1” of rain a week, more during droughts.
In Your Garden
- Many spring flowers are early and dying due to heat. Deadhead by cutting back to a leaf bud.
- Daffodils – Cut daffodil stems (for the flowers only) to the ground and allow foliage to die back to 2/3rds and yellow before cutting. Do not fold or braid the foliage as flowers die; the foliage is producing buds for next year.
- Order spring bulbs for fall planting. A good sources are brentandbeckysbulbs.com and scheepersbulbs.com.
- Prune back last year’s perennials. If more than 2/3rds of the plant is dead, remove and plant replacements. Sow morning glories.
- Prune roses back to live canes, remove winter mulch, and fertilize established plants when leaves are 2” long leaves. If black spot was a problem last year, remove any dropped leaves and start black spot spray program.
- Install soaker hoses and cover with mulch to hide the hoses and keep the ground moist.
- Make a list of gaps that need filling with shrubs, perennials and bulbs. Take you ‘need list’ with you when visiting your nursery or ordering online. It will save you time and avoid mistakes.
- Purchase bedding plants that are compact, typical foliage color and with a few flowers to indicate flower color. Plant tags are not always accurate.
- For Your Lawn: Mow at the highest setting when the ground is dry enough that the mower wheel do not leave impressions in the soil.
Trees and shrubs
Do not prune boxwood until after last change of a hard freeze. Late April check foliage for leaf miner and spray with an insecticide if adults are present. Treat larvae late June with a foliar insecticide.
Dispose of cedar-apple galls on junipers before they produce a jelly-like sticky orange spore-producing substance. The galls are not harmful to junipers but do spread rust disease to apples and other apple family members.
Vegetables – Planting by Phenology
Instead of planting by the calendar, use phenology (plants whose activities usually coincide):
- When lilac leaves are the size of mouse ears, plant peas and lettuce.
- When dandelions are blooming, plant spinach, beets and carrots.
- When daffodils bloom, plant peas and direct plant Swiss chard, sweet corn and mustard.
