The old saying “the early bird gets the worm” applies to gardeners as well as to birds. Those in the East who get an early start save themselves a lot of worry and fretting later on.
They will also probably save themselves some money spent for plants. On the other hand, those who try to rush the season in putting out tropical plants early usually have to do it over again.
There is always a question as to just what the right time is. It is fairly easy to determine this by digging up some soil. After you squeeze it in your hand, does it crumble or stay in a solid clod? If it stays in a clod, it is probably because it is too wet.
Dormant trees, shrubs and vines should be planted as early as possible even though you may plant them a month later and still have them survive. If they have been stored over winter in nursery storage sheds or cellars rather than being fresh dug from a nearby nursery, there is all the more reason to plant them early to enable them to get started and established before hot, dry, summer weather.
Balled and burlapped trees, shrubs, and evergreens, although a little more adaptable to transplanting than bare root plants, will benefit from early planting. The farther south you live the more important it is to get an early start.
The increased use of nursery stock grown in cans lengthens the planting season. Even though your root system is intact in the can, though, early planting will be slightly better than later planting.
Seed Planting
Seeds of hardy flowers, even though they will germinate and grow in early summer. will have a little better chance if sown now and will give you considerably larger plants by fall. On the other hand, annual flowers which are slightly tender and subject to frost damage should not be sown until a couple of weeks before the average date of last frost. Hardy annuals, however, (those that normally self sow), can be sown out of doors now and will give bloom early this summer.
Gladiolus are usually planted much later than they can be. For a long season of bloom start planting them as soon as the ground can be worked and make additional plantings about every ten days. Continue this up until late June, or if you have time for them to bloom before frost, they may be planted even later.
Ground cover plants are usually planted in rather difficult locations where other plants would have trouble growing. The earlier you can transplant ground covers such as periwinkle, Japanese spurge, and English ivy, the better chance they will have to become established before hot, dry weather.
Wild flowers, especially ferns, should be moved as early as possible, if you are transplanting them from some area where they are going to be destroyed or from your own woods. The reason for this is that the tree and shrub roots usually present in shady areas always take more than their share of nutrients and moisture from the soil and seriously handicap late planted wild flowers.
Checking Drainage
April is a good time to check your garden to see if there is some area that needs installation of plastic drain pipes to carry the extra moisture off to a lower level. Even hillsides may be wet and soggy and require drainage. Using four inch pipes with the lines 18 inches beneath the surface and 25 feet apart will do an amazing amount of draining. You will only need one inch of drop to 100 feet of line of pipe.
Of course the lines must lead into a some other drain to carry the excess water away. Don’t worry about their removing usable water that will be needed by the plants later in the season. They only carry away surplus. And unless it is a line of pipe that has water running through it almost continuously you will have little if any trouble with tree and shrub roots getting into the tile.
Many other pests will be preying on your gardens from now on and it is your job as a gardener to know just which one is causing the trouble and what the best control is for that particular pest. With all of our garden clubs and garden magazines it is amazing how many gardeners never stop to think whether or not they are using the proper control.
Pest Control
A chemical designed to control insects will usually be of absolutely no value in controlling a plant disease and vice versa. Today we have many new chemicals which our grandparents, or even our parents, never heard of.
Unless you live in a well populated area with a well stocked garden store, you may have difficulty in purchasing some of these chemicals. They can be ordered from some of the mail order seed and nursery concerns. Today the home gardener is turning more and more to what are called all-purpose materials. These will be a mixture of one or more chemicals to control insect pests and one or more chemicals to control plant diseases.
Probably rose growing has done more to develop these all-purpose combinations than any other one form of gardening. It is usually easier and cheaper to purchase these all mixed than to try to buy the individual components and mix them yourselves. Always read the label before applying any chemicals.
When you spray you have to mix the spray material fresh each time since it deteriorates when in solution or suspension in water. You have to stop and thoroughly clean your sprayer after use for some of the materials are more or less corrosive. The water is heavy so that there is more weight involved. And unless you have a compressed air or a motor driven outfit it is usually necessary to call for help to do the pumping. In spraying you have to be sure that the materials you use are “wettable” (designed to be mixed with water) .
Spraying More Effective
Spraying does have an advantage in that it is sometimes more effective if carefully and thoroughly done, than is dusting. But the average gardener will find that a thorough spraying job really takes patience.
A few pests that you should start controlling this month include slugs or snails. These are not difficult to control. Use a prepared bait.
Both slugs and sow bugs do a tremendous amount of damage to seedlings, tender young growth of plants, and even older plants, but they are all too seldom suspected. Both are usually worse if there is a little shade or plenty of trash for them to hide under. Once a month application from now through the summer should keep your garden pretty well free of them.
