Here is a comprehensive task list for March/April, courtesy of the Washington Gardener magazine. Please feel free to add in the comments section any changes or additional tasks you complete during this time!
- Avoid walking on and compacting wet soil in the garden.
- Prune grapevines.
- Put up trellises and teepees for peas, climbing beans, etc.
- Plant peas, potatoes, beets, turnips, radishes, cabbage, mustard greens, onion sets, carrots, and kale.
- Set out traps for mice, moles, and voles.
- Get a soil test.
- Do soil preparation – add lime, compost, etc., as needed.
- Mulch beds with a light hand.
- Start or update your garden journals.
- Clean out any old debris from last season from your growing beds.
- Turn your compost pile.
- Repot root-bound houseplants and start fertilizing them.
- Clean leaves and debris from your water garden.
- Do not be alarmed if your pond turns green from algae bloom – this is natural until your water plants fill the surface area.
- Add a barley ball to combat it for now.
- Cut back ornamental grasses.
- Water during dry spells.
- Cut your Daffodils for indoor bouquets, but do not combine daffs with other flowers in one vase. They give off a toxic
- substance that may kill off your other blooms prematurely.
- Weed by hand to avoid disturbing newly forming roots.
- Walk your garden – look for early signs of fungal disease.
- Divide perennials and herbs.
- Fertilize new growth.
- Plant and prune roses.
- Transplant small trees and shrubs.
- Buy or check on your stored summer bulbs (such as dahlias and caladiums). Pot them and start to water if you want to give
- them an early start on the season.
- If you started seeds last month, thin them and start the hardening-off process.
- Start some more seeds – try flowering annuals like impatiens and petunias.
- Prune fruit trees as their buds are swelling. Check for dead and diseased wood to prune out. Cut a few branches for indoor
- forcing, if desired.
- Build a raised bed for vegetables. Add lots of manure and compost.
- Buy an indoor plant to liven up your office space. Try an orchid or African violet.
- Cut back and clear out the last of your perennial beds.
- Feed birds and provide nesting materials (try dryer lint), as well as houses for the start of their family season.
- Plant a tree for Arbor Day. Arbor Day comes on different dates in different states. In our area, it is the first Wednesday in
- April for Maryland, Virginia has it on the second Friday in April, and DC has it on the last Friday in April. In addition, many
- local groups and towns have their own local celebrations.
- Read a good gardening book or magazine.
- Cut some branches (Forsythia, Quince, Bittersweet, Redbud, etc.) for forcing into bloom and enjoying indoors.