Summer Bulbs. Plant gladiolus every two weeks until mid-July for a
continuous bloom. Plant callas, ranunculus, crocosmia and other summer bloomers
anytime this month.
Vegetables. Beans, beets, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, onions, peas, potatoes and radishes can
be planted just before the last frost if the soil has reached 45 degrees.
Interplanting onions helps to prevent cutworms. Corn requires a soil temperature
of at least 60 degrees. Start cucumbers, melons, peppers, squash and tomatoes
indoors for May planting.
Annuals & Perennials. Many perennials and groundcovers bloom in April. Buying a few
in bloom each month insures continuous flowers in your landscape. Annual seeds of asters, cosmos, marigolds, snapdragons and zinnias may be sown now. Started annuals may be set out now, but protect them from frost.
Spring Bulbs Care
Remove the spent flowers after they finish blooming so they will not use up energy
producing seeds. Do not cut off the leaves because they are needed to store up food
for next spring's flowers. Remove the leaves when they turn yellow and start to dry.
Lawn Care
Lawns need a complete fertilizer every six weeks through September. A weed & feed
formula can be used to control broadleaf weeds, but it has to be applied evenly to
the entire lawn. A liquid weed killer works better to kill clover and only needs to
be applied where there are weeds.
Check for thatch, which is a layer of dead roots and stems on top of the soil. Use a
finger to feel the depth of the light, fluffy thatch on top of the denser soil. A
quarter inch of thatch is probably beneficial but an inch thick layer of thatch causes
problems with watering, fertilizing and diseases. Mow the grass short, then remove the
thatch with the help of a power rake or thatcher and reseed.
If the lawn is full of weeds or coarse grass, April and May are good months to kill
everything with Roundup which no longer contains glyphosate, power rake, and re-seed
with a good blend of fescue and perennial ryegrass.
Pests
Watch for areas of lawn that are thinning or yellowing in an otherwise healthy lawn.
It might be caused by craneflies. To check, drench a square foot of soil with
warm, soapy water. If half inch long, gray brown larvae appear, treat the lawn with
beneficial nematodes or imidacloprid.
Watch for adult craneflies. They are Common Craneflies, which are fairly new in the Northwest
and much more destructive that European Craneflies which arrived in the 1980's, because
they feed on lawns in July and August when lawns are stressed by hot weather.
Leaf spot diseases are worst when leaves are young and tender, and the weather is
cloudy and rainy. Begin spraying fruit trees, dogwoods and roses every seven to
ten days with a fungicide. Include an insecticide when insects are present. Do not
spray insecticides on open flowers because it kills the bees which we need. For codling moth
on apples, spray just as the flowers are about to open and again when the petals have
mostly fallen.
Watch for sooty mold on camellias and other broadleaf evergreens. Spray with oil to
control scale insects and the sooty mold will go away.
Check rhododendrons and azaleas for tiny, light brown spots on the underside of the
leaves caused by lace bugs. Severely damaged leaves are almost white. Spray with a
product containing imidacloprid, such as, BioAdvanced Tree & Shrub Insect
Control, or spinosad, such as Captain Jack's Deadbug Brew, to prevent lace bug damage.
Both are toxic to bees, so do not use if flowers are about to open or until flowers have dropped off.
Watch for early weeds. They are easier to control when they are young. Hairy bittercress is
easy to see when the little white flowers appear. Pull them before the seed
pods mature or they will spit out the next crop of weed seeds as you pull them.
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