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April Gardening Calendar

3/27/2015

GARDEN CHECKLIST FOR APRIL

Last average frost is about mid-April for Baxter County. You can get away with planting frost sensitive plants earlier if you are prepared to do some frost protecting when a frost is predicted.
Early treatment can prevent damage by cabbage worms on cole crops such as cabbage, broccoli, and cauliflower. Cabbage looper, diamondback moth caterpillar, and the imported cabbage worm can cause serious damage pretty quick. Check weekly for eggs and larvae under the leaves. Use Bacillus thuringiensis (BT) spray as soon as they are first noticed.
Onions are rapid growers and heavy feeders. To grow monster size onions, fertilize weekly with a water-soluble fertilizer and mix at half rate.
Plant warm season vegetables from mid month on. Don’t be in a hurry, or you may have to replant.
Hold back on planting okra, peppers, southern peas and sweet potatoes until late this month or the first of May. Warm soil temperatures are critical for these warm season vegetables.
Spray hybrid tea roses with a fungicide to prevent black spot. Spray according to label directions.
Fertilize your bermuda or zoysiagrass lawn after it has fully greened up. This is usually early to mid May.
Prune and fertilize spring blooming trees and shrubs immediately after bloom. Remember to remove the old canes of forsythia, quince, weigela, spirea and other cane producing plants.
Summer bulbs such as cannas, caladiums, dahlias, gladioli and tuberoses can be set out in mid-April. Plant gladioli several times at two-week intervals for blooms throughout the summer.
As pansies play out, replace them with summer annuals.
After Easter lilies fade, plant the bulbs in a sunny part of your perennial garden. Foliage may die back but will green up this fall and take off next spring. Don't expect blooms until late spring to early summer. Easter lilies are pretty reliable perennials if planted in a well-drained spot.
To keep annuals blooming at their best, make regular applications of water soluble fertilizer.
Continue to divide summer and fall blooming perennials.
As flowering bulbs fade, allow 6-8 weeks of green growing time for bulbs to replenish their nutrients. Crocus and daffodils do not have their flower heads removed, but it is beneficial with hyacinths and tulips. Fertilize with complete fertilizer. You can transplant and divide spring flowering bulbs after foliage begins to die down.
Use bird netting to keep birds away from strawberries. Watch for slugs.
Encourage production of runners on newly planted strawberries by removing all flowers the first season. Also fertilize strawberry beds in late August or early September to encourage good bloom set.
Watch for spider mites and bagworms on plants.
To attract butterflies to your garden try planting some host plants that will nourish the young caterpillars after they hatch. Plants to try include, butterfly weed, parsley, dill, fennel, rue, passionflower, and tulip tree.
Plant seeds of annual vines such as hyacinth vine, moon vine and cypress vine from mid to late this month.
Mulching is your best method to prevent weeds, plus it maintains soil temperature and moisture.
Aphids can occur in large numbers in the spring. Aphids dine on the sap of an endless number of garden plants. Their feeding weakens plants and in some cases a total destruction of plants. They are a very prolific insect bearing live young. Fortunately, they are easily controlled by a spraying of malathion or insecticidal soap but beware, reinfestation can occur in days.

For more information on any of the above points, contact the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture Cooperative Extension Service at 425-2335.

March Gardening Calendar

3/3/2015

The following is a garden checklist that gardeners need to be considering for March:

Now is as late as you want to wait if you want to use glyphosate (i.e., Roundup) to control winter weeds in your bermuda yard. If you wait too much longer your bermudagrass will begin to green-up. Check bermuda first for signs of green-up. Look up against sidewalks and buildings where bermuda would start growing the earliest. Do not use glyphosate if your bermuda has started to green-up. Also adding a broadleaf weed killer such as Weed-B-Gon or Trimec will control a broader range of weeds.
Wait to fertilize fescue lawns until they have started growing good. You could even wait until April to fertilize them. If you have some bare spots or a thin lawn, now is the time to seed tall fescue.
Spray broadleaf weeds in lawns with a broadleaf weed killer such as Weed-B-Gon or Trimec. Spray weeds when we have a forecast of 50°F or higher temperature for at least three days.
Pre-emerge herbicides can be applied from early to mid-March on lawns to control early weeds and crabgrass. Don’t apply pre-emerge on newly seeded lawns, however.
March is a good time to plant trees and shrubs. Be sure to remove ties and strings around balled-in-burlap plants. Cut the burlap in several places. Don’t leave any burlap above the ground as it can wick moisture away from the plant.
Bareroot plants, those in plastic sleeves, must be planted while dormant.
Avoid moving houseplants outside until late April.
Avoid planting tender vegetables and bedding plants until mid to late April when frost danger is past.
A general rule of thumb is divide fall bloomers in the spring and spring bloomers in the fall. Dig and divide hostas, chrysanthemums and sedums.
Give ornamental grasses such as liriope a haircut to remove old leaves. This should be done before new growth begins.
Before heading out to the nursery for new plants, have a plan in mind. Space new plants according to eventual size, not what they are now. Ask about sunlight requirements, moisture and growth habits. Proper selection can relieve a lot of headaches later.
Prune hybrid tea roses if not done already. Roses should be pruned in late February or early March. Remember to cut 1/4 inch above an outward facing bud at a 45 degree angle. Seal cut wounds with sealer to prevent dieback from diseases and insects.
Prune fruit trees, grape vines, and blueberry plants. These should all be pruned while dormant. Peaches can be pruned even while blooming, just be careful not to knock off the blooms.
Prune crepe myrtles, buddleias, and summer blooming spireas.
Overwintering tropicals should be sheared back.
Start seeds indoors for tomatoes, pepper, and eggplants.
Plant cool season vegetables – potatoes, turnips, lettuce, spinach, kale. Set out transplants of cabbage, broccoli, and cauliflower. Start planting sweet corn later in the month.
Set out onion plants or onion sets.
Allow bulbs six weeks of growth after bloom.
Prune spring blooming plants after bloom. As soon as quince, forsythia, and other cane producing spring flowering shrubs have finished blooming, prune out a third of the old canes. This rejuvenation cut will encourage vigorous new growth which will bloom next spring.
If you want a specific color azalea, buy it in bloom to assure a color match.
If you haven’t taken a soil test within the past three years, you need to do so. To take a soil sample from a given area, pull soil from 12 or more locations across the area you want to test. From each location, collect soil from the surface down to 4 inches (6 inches for vegetable gardens). Mix all samples from that one given area in a clean bucket and bring one pint of the mixed dry soil to the Extension office. There is no charge for soil testing.

For more information on any of the above points, contact the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture Cooperative Extension office at 425-2335.

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April Gardening Calendar

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