What to do in the Garden in April/Garden Style nw

[Music] hi everybody Debbie here with Garden style so I'm here today with gromore and 24 and here's our third video for the month of April what is there to do in the garden in April well just about everything so I'm going to start off with my list and try and give you some details on uh some of the things I'm getting ready to discuss uh so before I get started I just wanted to let you know that it is a beautiful somewhat 60° day it's a little Breezy today a little windy so I'm hoping that doesn't affect the audio on this particular video but uh going to take the chance anyway and here we go all right so pruning going to mention that first cuz you've had February and March to get your pruning done April is the perfect month to start pruning a lot of your evergreen shrubs like if you want to take them way down and I'm talking about shrubs that aren't getting ready to bloom yet um but if you've had a gnarly shrub in your yard that you're just ready to take down by at least half April is the perfect month to do that um so there's a lot less stress on the shrub and it has plenty of grow time to fill back in So printing your Evergreens and shrubs just make sure they're done blooming uh and not getting ready to bloom before you go about pruning them another thing that starts to crop it's ugly head during the month of April is weed control so if you haven't mulched your beds already use the month of April to start getting a layer of mulch down in all of your beds so that you're cutting back on the weeds and all the mulch is going to do is start to help you during the Spring and the summer months as we start to get warmer by holding moisture in the soil as opposed to the winter time when it is helping to keep your plants warm and protected during the Spring and the summer it still protects the roots from the heat as well as holding in moisture and keeping out weeds so mulch is super important during this time of the year as you probably already know the weeds are already poking their ugly heads through the soil and pull what you can mulch what you can but get on top of them now before they get really really obnoxious so we control is good um any irrigation systems that you may have uh whether it's soaker hoses or a drip system now's a good time to start setting those back up checking all your hoses setting up your timers um because as we start to get closer into May and June and we have more days in between the rain just means your plants are drying out that much faster especially any new transplants that you may have so I highly recommend setting up an irrigation of some sort I'm going through and checking all my soaker hoses that I currently have here in the yard just to make sure they made it through the winter okay and nothing needs repair but yeah get them all hooked up test them out and make sure that they're working properly so that you're not doing this last minute during the summer when it gets really hot so good time to check your irrigation another really really important thing you need to do during the month of April is fertilizing so if you haven't started yet Now's the Time to start putting it down and I mean fertilize everything and I would recommend a uh soil test kit so if you're not sure what your acid level is in the soil um or what your alkaline levels are test your soil first and you can usually find these soil test kits in your local nurseries we all have them and they usually allow you to test at least five or six different areas in the yard so if you're not sure where your pH levels are I would recommend that you find that out first before we start applying fertilizer CU in some instances especially here in the Northwest if you have really acidic soil you you don't need to be adding like for instance a holly tone to the soil because it's already acidic and what Holly tone will do is make it even more acidic and if that's the case and you still want to feed your plants then go ahead and use an all-purpose plant tone or a garden tone to your plants and that will certainly give them the food that they need most likely for the rest of the year and I'm talking trees shrubs and perennials um but yeah soil T soil test kit is very important and some sure signs that you have really acidic soil for instance is moss moss will grow anywhere where it is really acidic and the way to neutralize that is by adding lime and that helps to neutralize the soil and bring it up to a point where the Moss can't survive anymore that's where a lot of your Moss controls come in they help to neutralize the soil so it creates an inhospitable environment for Moss to grow so and that's usually a big problem for us here in the Northwest at least I know it is for me anything that's in the shade usually has a layer of moss on it like my lawn for instance so the first thing I'm going to do is put a layer of lime over my lawn where it's wanting to grow nothing but moss and kill that off first and then I'm going to thatch it this year I'm way overdue to thatch my lawn so I'm going to have that done and then go through and start feeding it and overseeding it uh overseeding is this is the perfect time of the year to start overseeding your lawn while it's still cool at night um the rise and fiscu grasses that we have growing here in the nor Northwest really like the cooler weather as you'll notice during the summer time if you can't keep up the watering your grasses are going to automatically go dormant and go Brown that's just how they work here in the Northwest where if you live down in the South it's the opposite their grasses down there usually go dormant in the winter time and go Brown and start to turn green and stay that way through the spring and the summer so just depends on what part of the hemisphere that you live but anyway fertilizing is super important get that going and of course get a test kit at your local Garden Center uh if you don't already have one okay this is the part of the year that I love the most the month of April is the time for planting and I can't wait so April can be a little tricky depending on where your zone is now here in zone 8 usually our Frost 8 lands around April 15th they say that's the average frost date but I can guarantee you I have seen Frost all the way into May so it's a good idea before we start uh putting out really tender annuals and vegetables that you kind of take a look at the 10day forecast and I would wait till after April 15th to start putting in plants like your geraniums patunas uh caleras a lot of your tender veggies um for instance like your corn uh tomatoes for sure we already have people coming in asking for tomato plants and I just tell them no no no no no wait wait wait wait wait wait you want to be able to have your temperatures at least 45 and above consistently for at least 10 days before you even think about putting in tomato plants um especially here in the Northwest because we can get a sudden cold and that's going to stunt their growth and you'll just wish you waited um I have planted tender perennials tender annuals too early and have found out that has stunted the growth and it Tak them forever to recover from it so you're much better waiting 10 15 days where those over overnight temperatures start to say stay a little more moderate uh and don't get anywhere near the low 40s and once that happens then you can feel pretty safe about planting your containers going out and buying hanging baskets and things like that but uh I know it's hard it's hard to wait you can certainly buy your plants now but just hold them and hold them in a protected place until you are able to get out in the art and get them planted now as far as tender annuals and veggies go things like ponas uh impatience are even more tender than say your geraniums and patunas and honestly I just wait till May before I start planting those types of plants and that way I know I'm completely in the safe Zone as far as having anything too cold for them because they're very very sensitive to that and we purposely don't bring in those types of plants until later on uh around the beginning of may just for that reason uh colus is another one uh that's just coming to my head right off the bat but yeah watch those overnight temperatures before you start putting out those more tender type plants but meanwhile you are perfectly safe to start planting your own hanging baskets rather than going and buying one pre-planted already usually the pre-planted baskets if you buy them too soon in the season usually around the end of April if you're buying them by then they're usually burnt out and done by the time you get to August but if you go in and you buy all the smaller plants and start planting all your baskets usually they last a little bit longer for you as long as you're fertilizing them on a regular basis and of course keeping them well watered so fuchsia baskets for instance this is a perfect time to go out find your fuchsia starts and get them started in your own baskets and that way you can save your baskets from year to year and just keep replanting them or you can hold them over in the garage and you can look up one of my videos from the past and I explain to you how you can hold over your fuchsia baskets in the winter time in your garage uh let them go dormant and then just pull them back out in the spring when you see temperatures are 45 and above at night start watering and fertilizing them and you will have them come right back for you usually twice the size as they were the year before just because their roots are already established in the pot now what I have done for my fuchsia baskets is I will literally pull the whole plant out of the basket cut off half of the root system put in some new soil and put it back into the basket and that way they'll just keep going and going and going uh throughout the spring in the summer so tricky month in April when it comes to planting those more tender plants and I know you're excited to do it but just be careful and keep an eye on the overnight temps now as far as spring bulbs go like your dalas gladiolas aliums now is the time go ahead and start putting those in the ground and getting them planted uh of course trees shrubs fruit trees if you still haven't planted any fruit trees you still have time to get those in the ground so there's not too much stress and uh of course get your containers ready um I usually start to get real serious ious about my annuals towards the end of April um like you I'm going to be watching those overnight temperatures but I'm really anxious to get some color into my containers and uh you'll start to find lots and lots of those coming in earlier into the nurseries um and of course if you have a greenhouse you can easily hold them over until till you're confident that the overnight temps are going to be okay all right transplanting this is probably getting to be about the last month that's safe enough for you to start moving plants around in the yard so if you have shrubs in the wrong place or perennials now is the time to start moving them and get them transplanted and well watered by the time you start to get into May and June it's starting to get a little late to be moving those types of plants so any transplanting you need to do get it done during the month of April uh cuz you're already pushing it most of that transplanting should have happened in March but you're still okay during April to get those things moved uh let's see another quick tip for you if you're going to be moving shrubs sometimes cutting them back uh say for instance a hydrangea or some type of evergreen shrub sometimes it's better to cut them back to relieve some of that stress when you get ready to wreck their root ball pull them out of the ground and move them to a new home so cutting them back does help uh as far as cutting back on the stress as we get towards the end of April and beginning of may you can move some of your house plants outside but I would recommend being very careful about transitioning them from the inside to the outside maybe take two or three days and put them outside during the day bring them in at night do the same thing the second day take them outside bring them in at night to let them get used to it but the last thing you want to do is put them in the full sun you want to make sure they're in the shade somewhere on the porch where they're somewhat protected but your house plants will flourish outside during the summertime it's just the extra Light fresh air the water house plants just seem to do really well but just be careful where you're putting them uh so that their leaves aren't getting burned the moment you put them outside okay along with transplanting the next great thing to do is to start dividing your perennials especially uh I've gone out to my perennial bed and noticed that some of my perennials are like three times the size they were last year and they're starting to creep into other plants so this is a good time to start digging them up and dividing them and moving them around or giving them to the neighbors put them in a container but if you're going to do some dividing Now's the Time to do it try and get all of that done during the month of April okay daffodils tulips as soon as they are done blooming go ahead and cut the blooms off but leave the foliage you want to let the foliage die back on most of your bulbs because they're they're continuing to reserve energy into their bulbs and they need their leaves to do that in order to give you a nice you know flow of blooms for the following year so don't cut the foliage back just let it D back naturally and as soon as it's to the point where you can't stand it anymore it's probably time to go ahead and cut them back by then they have stored the energy that they need for the following spring okay let's see what else can we be doing during the month of April clean up your fountains clean up your bird baths clean out your bird feeders Now's the Time um I've cleaned out all my bird baths I've flipped them over uh filled them up with water and the birds are already taking full advantage of it so awesome it's pretty neat uh let's see of course you want to be power washing your walkways uh get all your power washing done before you start going into plant so that you're not splashing dirt grime and everything else all over your garden bents go ahead and get that done now before you start doing the fun stuff which is planting your beds okay feeding and overseeding your lawn extremely important um if you have thick moss in it like I do right now uh I'm going to put a moss killer on first and then I'm going to thatch it and uh I recommend thatching your lawn once every 2 to 3 years just so you can keep it Lush and green it gets the air down into the roots and of course overseed it so you can add some new seed to the lawn and keep it nice and thick the thicker your lwn the less weeds you're going to have in your lawn so it's always a good idea to keep that going and of course reeding any bare spots things like that that are starting to show up in your lawn and fertilize I start to fertilize towards the middle to end of April when I'm done doing all my other treatments to the lawn and I'll treat it again at the end of May beginning of June and then I stop I only fertilize a couple times in the spring and then I'll do it a couple times in the fall and that's all your lawn is going to need besides ample water making sure it gets plenty of water during the summer okay something else I would recommend if you have a big yard and you have a lot of areas that need mulch in order to keep the weeds out another great thing to do is just buy more plants if you have a lot of holes in between all your plants that's just invitation for weeds to move in so I would recommend planting more plants the more you can cover the soil with foliage or mulch the less weeds you're going to be tackling during the Spring and the summertime that's always the bane of our existence as gardeners and I can promise you I've been in this house probably for about 10 years and I mulch my garden beds every years or so and it's a real fine bark mulch that I put down and not only is it breaking down and helping to feed the plants but it's keeping the weeds out Keeps The Roots protected in the winter and keeps the moisture in during the summer so I can't recommend it enough put some mulch down in your beds and you'll have a whole lot less weeds I know I do here all right um what else did I want to cover with you guys oh I would recommend not buying all of your plants to fill the yard during April and May leave some holes check with your Nursery during June and July and pick up some more plants that happen to be blooming at that time or in their season at that time and then buy some more in the fall and that way you're guaranteed to have a more of a Four Season Garden rather than having everything busting out into bloom during April May June and then nothing and that's what I've been doing is I've been slowly adding to my Spring Garden so I'm having more bloom and slowly adding to my fall Garden uh summer seems pretty easy uh being I have a really hot perennial bed that I'm constantly adding more plants to but you also want to add some color for the early part of the Season as well as the late season and that just keeps the garden going and going and going all season round okay um any problem pants that you may have I have several problem plants that either got damaged by the Frog or they constantly getting diseases or bugs of some sort or they just don't look good anymore tear them out just rip them out there's no sense trying to keep trying to revive them year after year just pull them out and replace them with some brand new plants and not only will you feel better but your garden will look better as well and it will certainly appreciate it if you're pulling out those one or two plants that just constantly catching some sort of a disease for instance I have a couple plants that get powdery Milo on them every single s Le year doesn't seem to matter how much I treat them they're just vulnerable to powdery mildew and I'm done I'm done fighting them I'm going to yank them out this year and replace them with something that's a little more disease resistant and read your tags on your plants before you purchase them and most of the time the tags will tell you what they're resistant to um they're coming out with new hybrids new varieties constantly all the time that are very resistant uh and will just make your life as a gardener much easier okay so that is a huge du list for April um because we are now in that transition time just watch your temperatures at night before you get too excited about planting your annuals and your tender veggies and you'll be fine uh but for the most part you can continue to keep planting shrubs and trees all the way through till the end of May so how exciting is that we're finally at a point where we can pull the furniture out and enjoy the outdoors which is probably one of my favorite things to do all right you guys of course if you have any comments or questions you can leave those in the description box down below uh you can also take advantage of our newsletter you can go to sunnyrest nursery.com we're going to be coming out with a newsletter by monthly now for April May and June being this is our busiest time of the year uh so feel free to sign up for those and uh yeah stay out there get your hands dirty now the real fun begins we can finally start planting okay keep those hands dirty and we'll talk soon bye for [Music] now