April To Do…aka Only Fools Rush In

One of my favorite times to be a horticulturist and gardener in Atlanta is in April. We get to sit back, relax, watch the ferns unfurl and the flowers bloom. I love to grab a cocktail in the late daylight saving afternoon and sit still while the bees hurriedly buzz about, frantically harvesting the first drops of nectar and pollen. Good news, everyone! There is nothing to do in April. Absolutely nothing.

And if you believed that, APRIL FOOLS! Because there is so very much to do in April. We are rapidly approaching the last frost date and as of this writing (April 1, 2022) it appears the arctic vortices are Netflix and chilling for the spring season.

Let’s get started because even though we are right on time, we are already late. (Nature is sorta like that toxic workplace boss with the mantra “If you are early, you’re on time. If you are on time, you’re late.” Because nothing creates quite the sense of terror than establishing that your scheduled time, in print, by your boss is a lie. But it’s all good because “we are like family, here.”)

Perennials and Annuals

With the threat of frost in most metro Atlanta and North Georgia areas over, it’s time to sow seeds that either have to be planted in situ (fancy way of saying “where you want them to grow”) or that you forgot to start early inside. Note that anything that needs frost/cold stratification (fancy way of saying “needs frost to break the seed coat”) will have to be manually stratified (fancy way of saying “scuffed up with sand paper or something”) or artificially cold stratified (fancy way of saying “put in moist sand or paper towel and placed in fridge or freezer”). Consult your seed packet for this kind of information. Also, I wrote that entire paragraph in a British accent to really impress how fancy those terms are.

Roses should already be pruned down. If you forgot, drop everything and go do them now. Even if you have to call in to work to do it. Do it. I’ll attach a fake doctor’s note for you.

Deadhead any flowering bulbs that are finished flowering. You may divide and transplant sizable colonies of flowering bulbs now to spread the love. Except tulips. Don’t waste time on doing anything with your tulips as we are not tulip country (believe it or not, tulip country is natively Persia, and tulip is the anglicized word for turban), and treat them as annuals. Summer bulbs can be planted now.

If any of your perennials are still largely dormant or just breaking dormancy, you may still divide them. If they are more than 5 inches leave them be and make note to divide them in fall (except phlox and iris).

It isn’t too late to apply pest and fungus sprays. Follow the directions on your preferred product.

Shrubs and Trees

You should be fertilizing now. Like NOW now. For trees, apply fertilizer no less than 2 inches away from the trunk, but concentrate most of your fertilizer near the drip line, which is just outside the edge of the tree canopy. This is where most of the root hairs exist, which is where most of the water and nutrient absorption takes place. For shrubs, broadcasting a good organic fertilizer will be fine. If using synthetic, follow the instructions on the product package. I generally don’t advise using 10-10-10 fertilizer every year, as phosphorus and potassium have a tendency to sit in the soil and can build up. If these macro nutrients get too high, they can cause nutrient lock with some of the micro nutrients.

Veggies and Herbs

Fertilize the last of the winter veggies. It’s possible to still get a few root veggies going, but I would stick with carrots and beets. If it starts to get too warm, you can still eat the greens. Beans and curcurbits (cukes, melons, squash) can be planted by seed now. Or you can get a ton of great selections from the Wylde Center or Love is Love Farm plant sales. Tomatoes and peppers can be started from seed, but they require soil temps to be in the 70’s. You can heat your soil by surrounding your plantings with black weed fabric, plastic, or stones. Or you can do what I do and just let the experts start them for you and buy them directly (see suggestions above).

Lawns

TL;DR: Start setting your mowers higher. You can sow cool-season grasses yesterday. The later it gets the less successfully it will germinate. Warm season grasses are good to go. Sodding is in full swing. Fertilize lawns near the end of April. Top dress with screened compost or composted manure (never fresh).

Editorial silliness now:

I’m going to be honest with you all…lawn turfs are not my speciality. I’m one of those people who can learn and retain a great deal of information on anything I’m marginally interested in. And turf grass has never been one of those things. In school, I’m pretty certain the only reason I passed Turf Grass Management was because I suffered a major family loss and the professor felt sorry for me.

Don’t get me wrong, I know people LOVE their lawns. Especially men. Even more especially straight men. I have a neighbor (whom I adore) who will become completely blind to the rest of his garden as long as his grass is a beautiful lush green. I swear, I saw him once crouching with a ruler making sure it didn’t get too tall.

And I do often advocate for at least one small area of turf. It gives the eye a clean, unchallenging place to rest before taking in the rest of the garden. And gives dogs a great place to poop (except the aforementioned neighbor’s grass. He will go banana cakes if he sees a dog pooping on his lawn).

But grass isn’t my passion. And it shows in my own garden where my itty patch of turf is a good ol’ southern lawn; riddled with clover, violets, and the last vestiges of maybe fescue the previous owner planted.

Another TL;DR: I’ll continue to place lawn tasks in my To Do posts, but they will be very institutional. Though I am proficient in turf grass management (I did actually get an A), it just isn’t a subject I can speak to for hours. If you are having lawn issues, turn to companies that specialize in turf grass. I am not the gardener you are looking for (waves hand Obi Wan Kenobi style).

The Take Away

There is a lot to do this month to make life easier and your garden more enjoyable in the months to come. As always, enjoy your garden. Every time you connect with your garden, you are connecting to nature and a piece of yourself.