Health & Fitness
APRIL GARDENING TASKS
I am thrilled with the recent rains! Spring has sprung!
Last week I went to the San Francisco Flower and Garden Show and most of the gardens featured low-water natives and other mediterranean-climate plants. I think the fear of drought and increase in water prices has spurred homeowners to reconsider their lawn finally. There is a real demand for beautiful and less-thirsty gardens.
There is also a demand for plastic lawns...I admit to having mixed feelings about it. While I am happy that people are thinking about reducing landscape water use, nothing beats a garden that changes throughout the year with all of the scents, color, texture and insects that go along with it. I know its easy to take care of and we have busy lives but what will that piece of green carpet look like in 5, 10, or 15 years? Will it be buckled like the old carpet in the den? Or will it be in a landfill? It might still look great. We will find out in the next few years!
Find out what's happening in San Leandrowith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Weed! Do it now, please! It’s a good time since soil is still moist from recent rains. Don’t wait for the weeds to set seed and create even more weeds. Keep weeding periods to short spurts...otherwise you’ll be heading to the chiropractor.
Bait or hand-pick snails and slugs They are voracious this time of year and procreate very quickly. Set out bait or hand-pick in the morning or evening. Repeat every few weeks to keep population down.
Find out what's happening in San Leandrowith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Plant summer flowering plants like coreopsis, cosmo, linaria, sunflower and zinnias. Beneficial insects love these plants!
Remove spent blossoms from azalea, camellias, poppies and spring bulbs.
Fertilize lawn, citrus, roses and all summer-flowering shrubs. I like to use a thin layer of good-quality, slow-release amendment but buy the stuff in boxes if your budget is tight or time is short. Lawns can be fertilized by leaving the clippings from mowing.
Remove frost damage from plants...cut back to new growth.
Fuchsias can be trimmed back a bit if leggy-looking.
Vegetable Garden
Prepare your garden beds Remove weeds, add some compost, turn the soil and level the ground.
You can still plant root crops like beets, carrots, potatoes, radishes in the first part of month.
Beans, cucumber, pumpkin, squash can be sowed in pots now or directly into garden soil as the month warms up.
Tomato, pepper, eggplant seedlings can be planted when nighttime temperatures are regularly above 55 degrees.
Plant herbs like parsley, cilantro, thyme, rosemary.
Removed deformed leaf growth on peach trees
Read more of Angele's gardening and landscaping tips in the Patch Archives.
