April is here, announcing the start of a new growing season! While it’s still a little early to put most shrubs and perennials in the ground, it’s not too early to prepare your garden for them. Here’s a guide on what you can be doing now to prepare for new plants:

• Rake the lawn as soon as it’s dry enough to remove snow mold and any leaves left behind from fall. Snow mold is a fungus that’s caused by heavy snowfall before the ground is completely frozen.
  
• Fertilize your spring bulbs with a slow-release fertilizer to give them an added nutrient boost.
• Add a compost and peat mixture to your soil; it’ll add essential nutrients and aids in soil retention. It’ll also help give your new plants a boost to their root systems when it comes time to plant.
• Start seeds indoors for summer annuals, veggies, and herbs. Cool weather veggies such as lettuce, cabbage, broccoli, eggplant, and kale can all be started now.
• Cut back your roses and grasses before new growth appears. However, don’t prune any rhododendrons, lilacs, or early spring-blooming shrubs. They’ve set bud for this year’s flowers, and pruning them will cause you to lose those.
• Cherries, peaches, plums, and pears will begin to flower later this month.
• Plan for a new landscape layout. Later this month, container roses will start to arrive, along with our nursery stock!
• Prior to mulching, apply Preen to stop pesky weeds from germinating in your garden beds.
• Don’t forget the lawn! This month you can lime, seed, fertilize, and control crabgrass and other weeds.
• At the end of this month, our front display is fully stocked with cool weather vegetables, such as broccoli, asparagus, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, lettuce, onions, peas, rhubarb, and spinach.
• Now that the weather is warming, it’s time to get back on a regular feeding schedule for your houseplants. A quality houseplant fertilizer such as Miracle Gro is perfect for just about any houseplant. Remember to also look closely for any signs of bugs or disease.
• Keep an eye out this month for flowering shrubs and trees such as magnolias and forsythia!