GENERAL APRIL CHORES IN THE ORNAMENTAL GARDEN
Top - garb found ornamental bedswith an inch ofcompostand work it lightly into the soil . Do this every twelvemonth and you ’ll replenish the nutrients needed by your plants , plus improve your dirt ’s structure and water - holding capacity . This is plausibly the most of import affair you could do to help your works thrive and blossom abundantly .
pick up flower bed and perimeter , if you have n’t already done so . skip back utter stems and foliage from perennials that were bequeath standing over the wintertime . hold your shrubs for dry out leaves that may have accumulate inside and under them ; remove those leaf before the plant bulge out making its unexampled leaves .
Re - edge blossom beds and borderswith a sharp - edged spade or half - synodic month edger , removing any forage or weeds that have migrate into them . Clarifying the boundary between lawn and flower bed is one of the salutary ways to give your ornamental garden a neat look .
Tackle skunk
Your beds may have winter yearly weed — broadleaf mourning band like hairy bitter cress , clammy chickweed , deadnettle , and henbit — which reproduce by cum that spud in gloaming , grows during the winter , and then produce flowers and seed in the outpouring . If you did n’t get them in March , be sure to root them out now , before they place seed . Then add a layer of mulch , which will conquer sprouting and growth of these weeds next year .
For exposure and helpful identification tips for these and other skunk , check out theVirginia Tech Weed IDsite . The University of Illinois Extension ’s on - line publishing onWeed Identificationcontains a phone number of useful close - up photos of widow’s weeds . While stab around in the Virginia Tech Weed ID situation , I happen upon that there are several kind of mouse ear .
Assess perennial that may need dividing , and for advice on making this decisiveness , see last calendar month ’s clause , Guidelines for Dividing Perennials . Some perennials can be divide in either outflow or fall , but the general principle is to dissever gloam - bloom perennials in early to mid - spring . On the subject of when to part , you’re able to chequer this lean before you proceed : When and How to separate Some Common Perennials / Va. Coop . Ext ..
ride out attuned to the weatherand protect any cosmetic plants that might be vulnerable to a sudden dip in overnight temperatures . You do n’t want a freeze to drink down the buds on your favorite flowering shrub . A row covering , old tack , composition board , or deep layer of newspaper will by and large do the job . Our expectedlast frost dateis now April 15–25 for Zone 7a , but “ Expect the unexpected ” is the watchword nowadays , thanks to climate change . Keeping up with the atmospheric condition prognosis is more important than ever .
Trim back tattered or freeze - damagedHelleborusfoliagein early spring . The current season ’s flowers egress from the centre of the plant life and are more sympathetic without the misdirection of the former leafage . Epimedium , heuchera , heucherella , tiarella , liriope , bergeniaand some ferns are other perennials with evergreen plant or semi - evergreen leaf that may demand to be cut back or neatened up in early saltation . Be careful not to clip newfangled , come out basal foliation or flower stalks by accident .
watershed fall - blooming perennials in too soon to mid - spring . Wait until afterwards in the summertime ( July ) to separate irises and Oriental poppy , and until autumn to split up daylilies and peonies . If you ’re new to separate plants , be sure to look up the recent Garden Shed clause , Guidelines for Dividing Perennials .
Prune loan-blend roseswhen bud growth get in early spring . Before making the first snub , look at the overall computer architecture of the plant life . Specifically expect for and move out dead wood , the pocket-size or weaker of two cross branch , thin ( smaller than the diameter of a pencil ) branches , internal facing arm , and inwards face buds . When making cuts , prune back to just above an outward - facing bud . As you make your cutting , front for any branches that have a hole in them , signaling cane borer terms . The internal wood surrounding the jam will usually be brownish or tan . Cut the branch back until you get to clean forest . As you prune , clean up any parting or other dust from around the al-Qaeda of the shrub .
Install wager or band - character supports for peoniesand train the foliage inside the band . paeony have a inclination to grow several inches much overnight . It ’s much well-off to deal with the leaf when it ’s only a few inch magniloquent .
Daffodils :
Pruning chore : Several early natural spring - blooming shrub are ready for rationalize in April , after efflorescence is done : forsythia ( Forsythia x intermedia ) , wintertime jasmine ( Jasminum nudiflorum ) , flowering quince ( Chaenomeles japonica ) , twat willow ( Salix discolor ) , and witchhazel ( Hamamelis vernalis ) . decline - blossom witchhazel ( Hamamelis virginiana ) is also crop in early spring . On these shrub , flowers are produced on wood frompast time of year , and begin setting bud for inflorescence next yearsoon after blossom . Before you protrude snub , be certain to readA Pruning Primer : Tools , Techniques , and Timingin the February 2020 issue ofThe Garden Shed .
April is the ideal time to clip box and cherry laurel . For a list of other shrubs that can be clip in spring , take a facial expression at the helpfulShrub Pruning Calendarpublished by the Virginia Cooperative Extension , Va. Coop . Ext . Pub . No . 430 - 462 .
EARLY bounce PLANTING TIPS
Early in the month , plant cool - time of year annualsthat can put up a light frost . queen , of course , are the quintessential coolheaded - time of year yearbook , but there are lots of other option for other natural spring . For example , calendula , larkspur , love - in - a - mist , honeyed genus Alyssum and sweet peas all may be lineal sow in in the garden now . Some nerveless - season annuals that are best start indoors for transplanting after the last frost day of the month admit : forget - me - nots , lobelia , paint tongue , and snapdragon . Do n’t bury to indurate off the seedlings before planting them outside . For elaborate instructions on this , check out a recentGarden Shedarticle , How to commence Your Garden Seeds .
As a oecumenical prescript , late - summer or crepuscle - flowering perennial are implant in outflow , but match guidelines specific to each plant .
MONITOR FOR PESTS AND disease
Be sure to monitorall that newly - emerging foliage for diseases and pest . The earlier you catch a trouble , the less likely it is that major damage will occur . Also , take photos and start search potential lawsuit . former efforts decrease the likelihood that drastic ( as in chemical ) treatment will become necessary . For a photo - based guide to identifyingdiseases of shrubs , seeShrub Diseases , Univ . Md. Ext ..
Keep an eye out for the tiny boxwood leafminer fly , which has usually been see buzz around boxwoods in April as it prepares to deposit eggs in the leaves . It ’s the larval stage that do damage as it feeds between the upper and lower layer of leave . If you see blisters on boxwood leave , lop off the blistered foliage before the adult fly emerge . Dispose of the leaf in the garbage . Alternatively , you’re able to break open a blister foliage with a finger nail and remove the larvae . For more about the boxwood leafminer and other insect pests of boxwoods , reckon atVa . Coop . Ext . Insect & Mite Pests of Boxwood .
It has manifestly not reached our area yet , but keep an eye out forspotted langernfly , which is a relatively new pest with the potential to do serious damage to a bit of crops as well as home gardens . The Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services ( VDACS ) is strive to preclude spread beyond Winchester and Frederick County , where it was in the beginning key out in 2018 . The VDACS just recently announced that this pesterer has become established in Clarke and Warren county . One sign of the zodiac of possible plague on a Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree is sugary secernment scream honeydew , which may then be infected with fateful sooty mold . For pic of each life stage of this insect and more information , include how to report a sighting , seeSpotted Lanternfly in Virginia/ Va. Coop . Ext . ,Spotted Lanternfly Life Cycle in Virginia / Va. Coop . Ext.andPest Alert : Spotted Lanternfly Va. Coop . Ext ..
easterly tent caterpillars(Malacosoma americana)overwinter as eggs , and the untested larvae crosshatch around the time of bud breakage in March or April . The young larvae gather near the fork of the Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree limb to commence spinning their web or collapsible shelter . They emerge from the web to munch on leave of absence , but return to the “ tent ” at night . easterly tent caterpillars are primarily receive on native smuggled cherry , crabapple , and apple tree .
Manual methods for remotion of the tents are usually sufficient , but burning is not recommended . If you ’re seeing a lot of tent caterpillar , remember that their egg deal , which are glistening and found on small twig , can be removed in fall and winter . lifelike mastery admit predaceous and leechlike louse ( especially wasps ) , and disease organisms . They are a best-loved food of the yellow - billed and the black - charge cuckoo . Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree commonly recover from lost foliage unless the tree diagram is young or damp and stress from other problems . If it appears that an insecticide is necessary , Bacillus thuringiensis(Bt , Dipel or Thuricide ) is a safe biological spray . Trees usually recuperate from bewildered foliage unless the tree diagram is unseasoned or weakened and accentuate from other problems . Do n’t be alarmed if you see mature caterpillars creep on plants , walk , building and the like . Mature migrating larva are no longer feeding , but are seeking a place to pupate . Crushing them will probably decrease the population to some extent .
Do n’t Forget the Deer Repellent
Do n’t Forget to Check out the Monthly Gardening Tips , now locate underGardening Resourceson the primary varlet of the PMG website : https://piedmontmastergardeners.org / gardening - questions / monthly - gardening - tips/#April
For more on April Tasks and Tips , confabulate late issue ofThe Garden Shed :
April , 2019
April , 2018
April , 2017
germ :
Eastern Tent Caterpillar , Virginia Cooperative Extension ( VCE),https://www.pubs.ext.vt.edu/444/444 - 274/444 - 274.html
Perennials : Culture , Maintenance and Propagation , VCE , https://www.pubs.ext.vt.edu/426/426 - 203/426 - 203.html
“ Eastern Tent Caterpillar , ” bugology at the University of Kentucky , https://entomology.ca.uky.edu / ef423
Pest Management Guide , 2021 Va. Coop . Ext .
Press Release 2/9/21 / Va. Dept . of Agriculture & Consumer Services
spy Lanternfly Life Cycle in Virginia / Va. Coop . Ext .
