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Spring is a busy time in the garden! There are so many jobs to choose from in April, I am just listing them here:
- Schedule an appointment with your irrigation guys to turn your water on. I usually get mine switched on around April 15.
- Check in with your lawn service if you use one. My husband often adds lime or fiercely rakes it all out. Getting it aerated does wonders.
- If you planted bulbs in pots, bring them out front and center, decorate by adding pussy willow stems and moss while you wait for your bulbs to bloom. It adds structure and interest.
- If you have time, try potting up a tiny primrose, these sweet little plants are tough and so precious. The garden center has them in a rainbow of colors.
- It is time to start hardening off some of your hardy seedlings like sweet peas, lupine and hellebores, but do it gradually. Place these seedlings in the shade for 3 hours a day for 5 days. They like the cooler temps and can handle it. Then plant them outside once night temperatures are above freezing consistently.
- Plan out what warmer-weather seeds you will start. You can start cosmos and zinnias mid-April inside and under lights. Later in the month, it is a good time to start tomatoes, eggplant, cucumbers, peppers and herbs inside.
- Now is a good time to finalize your vegetable garden plans. Here is an ambitious infographic I made with the help of AI (Grok)
- You can plant seeds and start plants like shallots, onions, garlic and chard now. You can also direct sow beets, carrots, lettuce, peas, radishes and spinach now.
- If you need to get work done on the exterior of your house like we just had to, get it scheduled before your garden beds are flushed out with new growth. If it is too late, consider a really excellent crew like mine who used light scaffolding to step well above my roses. Claudio at Callito Corp. listened to my concerns and was extra careful in my beds. My garden club recommended him. I am glad I listened to those very wise ladies, very wise.
- If there is anything you wanted to divide in your garden or move, now is the time to dig, before plants really start leafing out. I plan to dig up and divide my woodruff and donate it to my garden club’s plant sale.
- It is time to prune climbing roses and train them. (Video: https://youtu.be/Rf7F5qhChFM) I wait to prune my shrub roses until later in April, when the forsythia is fully blooming at the end of my street. It takes roses about 56-60 days to bloom after spring pruning, so every rose bush should look really amazing in mid-June. (Video: https://youtu.be/CJUS3eFEHrk) This is a good time to remove mulch around the base of the canes, just spread it around the roses. Mulch can be reused and left in the beds. Late April, I will feed the roses with either Rose-Tone https://amzn.to/4tpfv5R or Neptune’s Harvest https://amzn.to/416Vmp2.
- Herbaceous perennials, like chrysanthemums, sage and salvia, can be pruned close to the crown once you start to see new growth sprouting around the base.
- If you are lucky enough to have a raspberry bush, April is the time to prune down to the ground the oldest canes.
- Consider feeding your hydrangeas with Holly-Tone https://amzn.to/4sacfKC, by sprinkling about 1/4-1/2 cup of it around the drip line. Your rhododendrons, azaleas and boxwoods will appreciate the feeding as well. I like to time this chore right before a good rain shower and before mulching.
Please don’t get overly worked up about your garden. It is meant to be something that makes you happy and you can enjoy sharing and spending time in. Try to keep it simple. Plant what you like, it is OK if you just like grass and a few shrubs. It is your garden and your space to plan and be creative in and enjoy.
Save the date. There are plant sales right around the corner!
— Cottage Gardeners of Marblehead and Swampscott, May 9, Saturday, 8 a.m.-noon, (NEW LOCATION) Marblehead VFW, 321 West Shore Drive
— Driftwood Garden Club, May 9, Saturday, 8:30-11:30 a.m., Masonic Hall, 62 Pleasant St.
— Marblehead Garden Club, May 16, Saturday, 8:30-11 a.m., Lee Mansion, 161 Washington St.
Colleen Connor, our garden columnist, is co-president of the Cottage Gardeners of Marblehead and Swampscott.
