April Gardening Tips from Pike Family Nurseries

Spring has finally arrived and it’s prime time in the landscape. Flowers are blooming, temperatures are warming and our daylight
hours are lengthening. There is so much that you can accomplish in the garden at this time of year. Let’s take a look at a few gardening tips for the month of April.

• Remove faded blooms from spring flowering bulbs, like Daffodils and Hyacinths, but allow the leaves to die back naturally. After blooming, bulbs store food for the next year through photosynthesis.
• Buy Azaleas and other spring flowering plants while they are in bloom, so you can be sure of the color you are getting.
• Time to fertilize Fescue lawns for the second time. For best results, fertilize Fescue for the first time in early March, then again six to eight weeks later.
• Fertilize warm-season grasses, like Bermuda and Zoysia, when the grass is at least 50% green. This usually occurs in mid to late April.
• Although unlikely, be prepared to protect flowers and newly planted shrubs in the event of a late season frost.
• Plant warm season annuals and vegetables after the threat of frost has passed. The average frost date in Atlanta is April 15. We rarely experience freezing temperatures after this date.
• Fertilize and prune spring-blooming plants, such as Azaleas and Forsythia, after they finish blooming.
• Buy summer blooming bulbs, like Cannas, Dahlias and Gladiola now while selection is best, but wait to plant them until soil (not air) temperatures warm to 65 degrees or more.
• Don’t trash your Easter Lily when it quits blooming. Plant it outside. Cut off the spent flowers, remove the plant from the pot and plant it in a sunny location with good drainage. Don’t cut off the leaves until they yellow. They may not return exactly on Easter Sunday, but you should experience beautiful white lilies again next year.
• Set your clocks ahead one hour on April 4. Daylight Savings Time begins, giving us more daylight hours to “play in the dirt”.