April Gardening Checklist
April Gardening Checklist
Start your year off right with this April gardening checklist covering planting, pruning, and prep tasks.
Vegetables
- Enjoy herbs in pots in a windowsill. Plant them outside in May 
- Remove any spent vines and corn stalks from garden spot if not completed last fall 
- Add Soil Enhancer or compost as well as sulfur, and rototil into soil to prepare seed bed 
- Cool weather crops (lettuce, spinach, peas, broccoli, root crops) can be planted in late April
- Tomatoes may be planted in late April in a hoop house or in insulated plant protectors 
- Place a floating row cover over your crops so your seeds will germinate quicker, and the birds won’t make a meal of them. Floating row covers also eliminate cabbage worms and root maggots on cabbage and root crops 
Fruit
- Prune and thin raspberry plants to clean up last year’s dead canes 
- Apply manure and soil sulfur to berry patches if not done last fall 
- Apply Casoron granules to raspberries before new canes emerge to prevent weeds 
- Plant bare root or potted raspberries, strawberries, and fruit trees. 
- Spray mature fruit trees with Dormant Spray to kill overwintering insects and eggs 
- Spray pear and apple trees with Fertilome Fire Blight Spray twice during blossom period 
Lawn
- Rake matted grass as snow recedes to prevent snow mold from damaging your lawn 
- Turn on sprinkler system and make repairs as needed 
- Apply T&C Humates (Step-1) to your lawn to help decompose lawn thatch and green up your lawn. This can be done anytime in March or April 
- Ask about our 4-Step Lawn Program for the greenest, healthiest lawn in the neighborhood 
- Seed new lawns using our Premium Lawn Seed. Apply T&C Seed & Sod Starter at time of planting. Ask for our free Lawn Planting Guide for complete details 
- Spray dandelions with Fertilome Weed Free Zone before they bloom 
Roses
- Remove winter protection from roses when new shoots are just beginning to emerge 
- Prune canes to 8” on hybrid teas. Remove dead canes 
- Plant dormant roses. They love getting started in the cooler weather 
- Apply Fertilome Rose Food w/Systemic to feed and protect roses from insect damage 
Flowers
- Plant Sweet Pea seed and wildflower seed now 
- Plant perennial flowers (the ones that come back each year). Frost won’t bother them 
- Hardy annuals such as pansies, petunias, alyssum, snapdragons can be planted in late April 
- Plant summer bulbs like gladiolas, lilies, and dahlias for beautiful summer color 
- Plant up your porch pots with cold hardy flowers. Ask for our tip sheet on hardy annuals 
- Prune back dead stalks on perennial flowers and ornamental grasses to the ground 
- Transplant, divide, and relocate perennials as needed. Share some with a neighbor
- Fertilize established bulbs and perennials with T&C Fruit & Flower Food
Trees & Shrubs
- Plant potted and bare root trees and shrubs. Use Root Stimulator and Soil Enhancer
- Prune most trees now. Skip maples and birches until summer to avoid excessive bleeding
- Cut back butterfly bushes, blue mist spirea, Russian sage, potentilla, spirea, and other summer-blooming shrubs now
- Fertilize trees and shrubs with Save-A-Tree or T&C Tree & Shrub Food
- Apply Fertilome Systemic Insect Drench or Acecap Systemic Implants to prevent insect damage to your trees and shrubs for the entire growing season
- Spray dormant trees with Dormant Spray to kill overwintering insects and eggs
- Spray quaking aspen with Fertilome Systemic Fungicide to prevent fungal leaf spot
- Examine staked trees and loosen or remove ties around trees if necessary to prevent injury 
- Examine staked trees and loosen or remove ties around trees if necessary to prevent injury 
- Check for evidence of borers in your aspen, ash, and other trees. Small holes, possibly with leaking sap and/or sawdust are signs of problems. See our Garden Advisor for solutions
Birds & Wildlife
- Clean and fill your bird baths for arriving robins and songbirds 
- Clean your bird houses before the new birds arrive 
- Continue to feed birds with suet, black oil sunflower, and high quality wild bird seed
- Plant shrubs and flowers to attract, feed, and provide cover for birds and hummingbirds 
Got Questions? Our Team at Town & Country Gardens are here to help you!
Plant problems? We love to see photos and (if it is possible) bring a sample in a clear plastic bag for us to look at with you.
Always follow label instructions on all gardening products.
 
											
				 
			
											
				