Gardening Jobs for April
Written by Matt W (Greenhousestores) on 26th Apr 2021.
April is the peak of spring. It is an important time for attending to a number of basic gardening chores ahead of summer. The what-to-do list for April must be flooded with preparation and planting tasks. To enjoy your garden to the fullest this coming season, you must be prepared to do certain garden tasks in April.
The first thing to consider is the kind of tools you have ready for the work ahead. Do you have the right tools? The safest and easiest way to achieve a great and productive garden is a proper maintenance of your tools. You ought to have sharpened your secateurs in anticipation of April. Ensure that all your spades, shovels, forks, and hoses are in good shape. Neglected handles must be fixed at this point.
Spring is relatively short. It is time to prepare the soil and to make it workable and able to support vegetables which would be sown in abundance. However, winter and fall leave dead leaves, branches, and debris behind. In April, the first duty is to clear your lawn and garden to make room for planting.
You must also clear unwanted grass, herbaceous perennials, and other unnecessary growth. Thorough weeding will provide the environment with optimum moisture content for the soil. It would be beneficial if you decide to add compost to your garden during the first week of April.
This is also the best time to order for an ample supply of seed potatoes, squash, pepper, kale, collards, tomatoes, spinach, lettuce, peas, melons, peas, and any other vegetable you intend to plant.
A Quick Summary of April Gardening Jobs
The best yields are usually preceded by thorough preparation of seeds, soil, and other requirements. Make sure you leave the seeds outside for short durations each day to introduce them to sunlight and outdoor weather. This acts like immunity to a hostile environment after planting.
Performing this procedure on seedlings improves their chances of survival since it eliminates the initial struggle of transitioning from a controlled environment to outside. The “weaning” process is also best for vegetables and flowers. This simple process will reveal to you the magic of germination.
Besides seed and seedling hardening, other crucial gardening jobs for April include the following:
Soil Preparation
April is the ideal time to nourish your soil with manure or compost. This promotes insect activity and benefits microorganisms living in the soil.
A slow-release fertilizer could be act as a substitute. Healthy soil provides for healthy plants and for a robust environment. Promoting healthy soil indirectly promotes your own health.
To determine your soil health, check for the amount of minerals essential for plant growth, for living organisms like earthworms, or if it can hold moisture but drain well.
Getting Rid of Garden Pests
Among the worst garden pest, you will discover aphids at the top. Their damage consists of piercing plants to suck sap leaving them to die with puckered leaves if untreated.
It is time to introduce lady beetles that feed on aphids to avoid the use of industrial sprays later. Also, get rid of snails and slugs which are in their hibernation season only to surface in summer and destroy your crops.
Vine weevils notoriously destroy the roots of plants and you may want to destroy their larvae in compost heaps. Spray debris and other remnants with summer oil to eliminate them along with scales, harmful beetles, and spider mites.
Introducing predatory insects such as assassin slugs, praying mantises and lady beetles will keep the population of garden pests in check.
Plant Seedlings
The time is here for you to plant flowers and plant seedlings that you planted in March. But it is also the right season to sow marigolds, zinnias, petunias, and purple cornflowers that will flourish in summer. Only a handful of vegetables are able to withstand the April chill.
The cool, wet weather is a good time to grow rhubarb, peas, asparagus (asparagus officinalis), beets, and spinach (spinacia oleracea). Romaine and butterhead varieties of lettuce are particularly expected to bloom around this time.
Certain warm-season vegetables you may grow are such as cantaloupe, okra, cucumbers, radish, carrots, and pepper. If you sow them early, you will enjoy them for many months this year. It is also the season of planting your cherished annual herbs.
Mark a Compost Area
You will have to constantly nourish your plants without necessarily using synthetic fertilizers.
To avoid the possible mess compost heap manure can cause, select a sunny site where insects and microbes will easily access the rotting material.
An additional wire mesh base will solve drainage and aeration problems. Ensure that liquid does not seep out of the bin.
Prune the Trees
Pruning your trees and deciduous herbs is appropriate to stimulate new growth. Remove all sickly branches and leaves.
Most shrubs, trees, and perennials become stronger and more productive when pruned in April. It is also appropriate to introduce any shrub or tree into the garden. However, always remember to prune damaged or diseased stems as you see them.
Dead stems are responsible for many plant diseases. Also remove water sprouts, suckers, and crossing branches. Certain plants like the various species of hydrangeas can only be pruned effectively in April.
Any other pruning before or after spring only destroys their flower buds. Lilac, Forsythia, rhododendron, and other early-spring bloomers are to be pruned in April too. Shrubs like privet and boxwood can be effectively sheared around this time.
Reseed the Lawn
April is a suitable time for fertilizing and reseeding your lawn. Reseeding your lawn in April is the only remedy for bare spots.
During this time avoid mower movement. Perform an alkalinity test on your soil around this time. Wait for the right temperature before you start the process.
Temperatures between 55 and 65 degrees Fahrenheit favor the growth of cool-season grass seeds while the warm-season grass seed will thrive at temperatures between 70 and 80 F.
Transplant Tomatoes
April weather greatly supports the transplanting of tomatoes.
Tomato seedlings transplanted to the garden 1-3 weeks after the last winter frost perform best and taste better. The soil is warm enough to also enhance the growth of herbs such as thyme, basil, and mint.
Various segments in your garden also require specialized attention, and certain tasks are mandatory this April.
Your Fruit Garden
Mulching is the best idea for a fruit garden in April. Fruit trees and bushes are in full flower. However, it is the perfect time to sow melons. Dig the ground around the trees sufficiently and spread manure liberally around stem bottoms.
Ensure that the plants are well-watered. Frost protection is also critical during this season. You must remain vigilant and armed with enough horticultural fleeces to drape the trees and bushes. Feed strawberry plants with a high potassium fertilizer to encourage growth.
Remember to apply organic pesticides to control greenflies attacking the strawberry. For peaches and apricots, it is the perfect moment to start thinning their young fruitlets. The process of thinning must be sustained for several weeks only stopping when the fruits are as large as walnuts.
Also, this is the best time to spray your apple and pear trees. In other trees and shrubs, watch out for capsid bugs, caterpillars, scab, mildew, and the big bud mite which attacks black currant. Grease wraps meant to trap aphids should also be removed in April.
Your Flower Garden
The plants in your garden face the threat of frosting as well. Prepare for mulching before time to protect the delicate plants. Mulching will help to keep the soil slightly warmer.
Climbing plants like sweet peas, honey sucker, clematis, and climbing roses must be fastened to a wire railing or a trellis while simultaneously removing weeds and superfluous growth at the stem base. Watering must be ongoing throughout this period.
April is the best time to repot plants. Those that have overgrown their containers must be carefully removed from their former housing. Use a fresh portion of soil when carrying out plant transfer.
April provides a wide array of seedlings that you can add to your garden to amplify its quality. Some of the springtime favorites include daffodils, irises, tulips, gazania, freesia, watsonia, and ixia. Perennial plants such as Shasta daisies, lupins, and aquilegia thrive around this time.
Therefore, divide established border perennial plants, for example, Hosta, and introduce new plant species for your garden. To encourage a bushy summer growth, sow fuchsia plants or sweep pea plant seedlings. If the soil is not waterlogged or frozen, consider moving shrub snow and evergreen trees.
In April, it is appropriate to prune penstemons in your flower garden. Apply well-rotten manure around perennials and biennial plants ahead of the hot weather. Meanwhile, also prune flowers faded by the effects of winter prevent them from leaving unhealthy seeds behind to germinate.
Your Vegetable Garden
Make seedbeds by first performing a thorough weeding on the garden. Turn the soil to make it fine and to keep it sufficiently aerated. When the seedbeds are ready, keep them covered with black plastic to retain the warmth and dryness that is important during the actual planting.
Soil preparation is the premium for a successful vegetable garden. Amend the soil using compost to make it more prolific and more disease-resistant. When you are satisfied that the soil is well-turned and aerated, you may proceed with transplanting delicate plants.
Transplanting seedling requires careful timing to minimize transplant shock. During transplanting remember that mulching is crucial to keep moisture and to suppress weeds. Good transplanting is done in succession after every few weeks to retain a continuous period of harvest.
Ensure that you adhere to the prescribed rules of spacing. Good spacing will allow you to grow more cool-weather vegetables like French beans, pumpkins, sweet corn, runner beans, courgettes, and marrows.
You can also plant radishes between rows of lettuce because they grow swiftly. They will be ready for harvest long before the lettuce matures and broadens. The first week of April is perfect for sowing fava beans, mustard greens, arugula, mache, cabbage and kohlrabi.
Other cold-season crops that you may introduce to your vegetable garden in the following weeks include parsnips, rutabagas, fennel, turnips, and leeks.
Your Lawn
Intense mowing is scheduled for the month of April. Initial mowing should be done with the blades set unusually high.
If you had not yet sown grass, you must carry out light raking around the lawn to initiate a fine tilth. Choose the type and quantity of grass to sow by calculating the amount of grass needed for each strip on the basis of 48 grams per sq meter. Then sprinkle the seed and conclude with light raking.
You must water the area thoroughly using a sprinkler and predators must be kept out of sight. Depending on the weather, signs of germination should be noted within two weeks. April is also a good time to repair your lawn.
Take time to repair lawn edges and fill outworn patches in the lawn. To prevent this problem from recurring, it is advisable to spray the lawn with an insecticide containing Imidacloprid to kill leatherjackets and starlings that could have migrated to the area.
Finally, there are certain chores that are important for your garden in April:
- Remove dirt from your paths and paving in preparation for summer.
- Revamp bird baths and bird feeding stations to attract birds into your garden.
- Renovate water storage systems and water butts in your garden.
- Seize the April weather to plant hollies, conifers, and other evergreen hedge plants. A handful of fish meal or bone meal and routine watering will give you superb hedges in only eight weeks.
- You can now sow broccoli, cauliflower, sprouts, and the winter brassicas with strict adherence to rules of spacing.
- Remember to purchase summer bulbs although sowing them takes place towards the end of April when the soil temperature is slightly warmer. Summer bulbs include gladiolas, elephant ears, and caladiums.
- Last, but not least, clean leaves out of ponds and fountains, but leave the frogs in peace. In April, frogs are emerging from their hibernations in muddy and murky places.
Conclusion
The amount and type of gardening jobs to do in April will depend on the weather. It is important to note that this is also the month to lay the foundation of successful gardening for the coming twelve months.
With the right tools and attire, you will be able to accomplish a lot for your garden and create a blooming garden you will enjoy for the remainder of the year. Seize the month of April to perform a complete overhaul of your garden, enhance the soil’s health, and tidy up the mess that winter left behind.
Prepare for the sowing of main crops and to redefine your vegetable garden. Since there are many gardening tasks during the month of April, proper planning will guide you to carry on your work systematically.