April

• Prune back herbaceous perennials (example: salvia), to promote plant bushiness.
• Grow your own food this summer! Now is the time to plant edibles like tomatoes, herbs, zucchini and berries. Consider a soaker hose to conserve water in your vegetable garden.
• Prevent powdery mildew and rust on roses and other plants with Bonide Neem Oil. Already have a powdery mildew problem? Treat with Monterey Complete Disease Control.
• Aphids are beginning to appear. Stop them early with Bonide Neem Oil.
• Tomatoes: choose a large cage — your plants will surely grow larger!
• Plant a tree, shrub, flower or edible for Earth Day or National Arbor Day.
• Stake perennials like Delphinium, Foxglove, Peony, Coreopsis, garden Phlox, Hollyhock, Centranthus, and Shasta daisy.
• Start planting summer annuals like lobelia, begonia, impatiens, marigolds, cosmos, petunias, snapdragon and alyssum. Use E. B. Stone Sure Start fertilizer for new plantings to establish them quickly.
• Apply a lawn fertilizer such as E.B. Stone Nature’s Green to green up your grass and groundcovers gently.
• Stock up on a season’s-worth of top quality, plant-specific fertilizers from E.B. Stone. The “Naturals” and “Organics” lines are environmentally friendly.
• Snails and slugs are hatching in your garden right now. Non-toxic Sluggo can control them.
• Mulch vegetable and flower beds with Sloat Forest Mulch Plus.
• Release ladybugs, praying mantis, and other beneficial insects to help control aphids, mites, whiteflies, and other garden pests. If you release beneficial insects, please don’t spray for garden pests.
• Work cover crops into the soil before they seed.
• Shop for clematis and other spring bloomers.
• It’s also time to start choosing and planting summer perennials: Penstemon, Salvia, Dahlia, Argyranthemum.