Spray against apple scab, mildew, and aphids. Early in the month, plant onions, scallions, radishes, peas, early turnips, lettuce, spinach, and Swiss chard. Brussels Sprouts 5. If you are in doubt, check your soil with a soil thermometer to make sure the soil temperature has warmed to greater than 45ºF (7ºC). These dates will in part dictate when the best time to plant is. Apply soil amendments responsibly to protect local watersheds. Lettuce 10. Check plants for signs of pests and disease, which often begin to multiply rapidly as the temperatures rise. Beets 3. Direct sow tender warm-weather crops when the danger of frost is past and the weather is mild–plant out pole and bush snap and Lima beans, eggplants, pepper plants, casaba, celery, corn, okra, salsify, squash, cucumbers, cantaloupe, watermelons, Chinese cabbage, and black-eyed peas. If you need to purchase seed starting materials, check out my Amazon shop. Prune fruit trees cutting out crossing branches. Start sowing vegetables without protection if your weather has warmed. If the weather remains chilly in your region, sow tender summer vegetables and herbs indoors or in a greenhouse or heated cold frame at the end of this month. Look for any overgrown clumps of bergamot, chives, and fennel. Learn what else April has in store for you in the April article above. Clean pots thoroughly. Harvest cool-weather crops as soon as they are ready. Privacy Policy, Grow Potatoes in Trenches, Mulch, or Containers ». Close again before sundown. The best way to get your garden looking full and healthy for a glorious summer display is by creating a planting calendar. Apply aged manure and compost as needed. Seeds of beets, carrots, and parsley should be soaked for two hours in warm water before planting. Move large containers outdoors and fill them with potting mix mixed with compost. As long as the buds have not broken, apply a second spray to trees in about 14 days. Vegetable Planting Calendar Find out when to plant vegetables with the Almanac's planting guide! Start planning the fall garden. Remove winter mulch from around fruit trees, vines, and perennial vegetables when they flower or begin to sprout new growth. By the end of the month, you can plant outdoor tomatoes, and tie them gently, but firmly, to stakes to secure them. Keep celery moist by regular irrigation. Avoid wetting the plant foliage. Few seeds will germinate if the soil temperature is colder than 45ºF (7ºC). Turn the compost pile when it thaws. Here are six ideas for starting a garden on a budget without breaking the bank. Hang codling moth traps on apple trees. For details about starting seeds indoors, see my step-by-step guide. When the soil is warm and dry, fork over the vegetable garden; dig in cover crops; remove weeds; rake the soil to a fine tilth; spread compost. Water seedlings and plants as needed. Spray peaches, nectarines, apples, pears, plums, and almonds with a copper-based fungicide. Turn the compost pile. While you may have to start some seeds indoors in March and April, you can transplant your seedlings outside in May or June and experience a long, productive growing season. Allow access for bees. Timing for all planting is based on first and last frost dates. Planting vegetable seeds or transplants at the correct time is important to getting the most out of your garden. Blackheart celery disease is caused by alternate drying and wetting of the soil. Apply summer mulch when the weather warms. Onions Feed seedlings with manure or compost tea after planting. Kale 9. Cut the tubers into 3 or 4 pieces, each with several good “eyes”, and set them in trenches, about 3 inches (7.6cm) deep and 2 to 3 feet (.6-.9m) apart. Thin new fruit on citrus, apple, and peach trees. Sprinkle sulfate of potash around the root-feeding area of apples, pears, and plums to encourage good fruiting later in the year. Plant potatoes as soon as the ground is workable. Before slugs, snails, and pillbugs invade your leafy greens, head them off with beer traps. Knowing your first and last frost dates will help you start your vegetable seeds at the right time. We'll tell you the earliest dates to plant vegetables in the spring and the last dates that you can plant for a fall harvest, based on average frost dates for your location.. Celery should be fed about 3 weeks after plants are set out. Prune back canes of raspberries planted last year to about 12 inches (30cm). Sow seed or set out starts of kohlrabi, leeks, onion sets, parsnips, radishes, scallions, shallots, and turnips. Cover your planting beds with clear or black plastic sheeting for a week to 10 days to warm the soil. Prepare asparagus beds and plant asparagus crowns. Your email address will not be published. Which Seeds Should Be Started Indoors? Water newly planted trees and bushes during prolonged dry weather. Cover seedlings and warm-weather crops with horticultural fleece if night frost is forecast. Weather extremes from snow flurries to hot weather can occur in the Northern Hemisphere. If you're starting with sod, you'll either need to cut it up in chunks and repurpose it, till … Starting Seeds Under Grow Lights in April The following seeds can be started indoors. Perennial and biennial herbs can be lifted, divided, and replanted now. Tie new canes of blackberries and hybrid berries to support wires. Watch out for aphids on broad beans and root flies on cabbages, carrots, and onions. Prune autumn-fruiting raspberries. For sweet corn, several short rows in a rectangle will pollinate and be more successful than a few long rows. Allow a maximum of eight canes per plant. Delay planting outdoors if the soil is still cold. Fertilize strawberries, brambles, and grapevines with compost when the first blossoms show. Spring is in full effect, and there are many things you can plant in April when living in zone 8! Get busy with these vegetable garden tasks this April: Prepare vegetable seed beds by removing all weeds. ... April 8, 2016 at 3:58 pm. Put cloches over strawberries in frosty regions if you want an early corp. Weed as needed. Asparagus 2. Make sure plants started indoors receive plenty of light. Most of these seeds should be sown after April 15th outside. Plant greenhouse tomato plants in large pots, or plant them in grow bags. Sow early peas in a sheltered spot. April has arrived, and the outdoor gardening season has officially begun for me. Here are six ideas for starting a garden on a budget without breaking the bank. In this video, I share how to start your seeds indoors for your spring garden and 6 mistakes to avoid when seed starting. Cover prepared soil with sheets of black plastic to keep it drier and warmer in preparation for planting. Plant currant bushes and raspberry canes, and water in thoroughly. Mist open peach flowers with a fine spray to help the setting of fruit. Propagate thyme by layering creeping stems and severing them when the roots have developed. Harden off plants started indoors or in the cold frame before moving them into the garden later. In this post, you’ll learn how. Before planting out cool-weather crops started indoors, harden off young plants from winter sowings–broccoli, cauliflower, kohlrabi, leeks, onions, lettuce, peas, and broad beans. By mid-month set out seedlings of cabbage, broccoli, and Brussels sprouts if the soil is not excessively wet. Thin heavy-cropping nectarines and peaches when the fruit is ½ in (1-1.5 cm) in diameter. In the garden in April, sowing, planting and weeding are three key gardening jobs that should be well under way. In cold-winter regions, spring weather may be weeks away. ), For an onion that stores long into winter, try the, Beets: Why not try Botanical Interests’ colorful. In planting zone ten, you have only a few items to do in your garden as well. For most crops that can be started indoors, seeds should be started about 6-8 weeks before your last spring frost date. Turn the compost pile. If you want quick results (if … North Carolina is in 5-8 USDA plant hardiness zones. Cut the canes that fruited last autumn back to ground level. Fall and winter leave a lot of branches, dead leaves, and debris behind. Read more about starting seeds indoors here. Summer-prune gooseberries by cutting back side shoots to five leaves. Soak compost or well-rotted manure in water. Which Seeds Should Be Started Indoors? Plant potatoes. If you’re new to gardening, you may think the growing season doesn’t begin until April or May. Mulch established fruit trees and bushes with garden compost or rotted manure. Get asparagus crowns in the ground now. Begin to harvest spears from two- and three-year-old asparagus plants this month. April Gardening Tip Early spring is a wonderful time to enjoy brisk, sunny days outdoors as you clean up your gardens and watch your plants slowly begin to grow. Warm-weather summer crops include basil, cucumber, eggplant, peppers, squash, and tomatoes. Suitable fertilisers would be blood fish and bone, … Water garden if weather is dry. Watch for borers and caterpillars on trees. Watch for pests and signs of disease. Attach slings or nets to melons as they swell. Learning Download: Growing in Oregon Continue to remove side shoots from tomatoes. Use biological pest control for greenhouse pests such as greenhouse whiteflies and spider mites. Spray gooseberries and black currants for gooseberry mildew. In the northern regions, the first asparagus is starting to appear; cut the stems when they are 4-6 inches (10-15cm) high. Start the seeds of summer vegetables that require 8 weeks or more indoors. On fan-trained apples, cherries, peaches, and plums remove branches growing towards or away from the wall. Add dry leaves, grass, and non-fatty kitchen scraps to the pile. Open the frame when temperatures are above freezing. Water and feed greenhouse tomatoes, cucumbers, and peppers, never letting the soil dry out. Plant lettuce, spinach, chard bok choy, kale, and broad beans when the danger of frost has passed. Clear your … Test Soil and Fertilizer as Needed. Sow seeds of chervil, dill, fennel, parsley, pot marjoram, and sorrel. In northern regions, remove heavy mulch from around plants overwintered in the cold frame. Vegetable gardening consists of selecting a site, planning the garden, preparing the soil, choosing the seeds and plants, planting a crop, and nurturing the plants until they are ready for harvest. Where cutworms are a problem place cardboard collars around seedlings. Sow cool-weather crops in the frame or beneath a plastic tunnel or cloches. Prepare a Garden Site. Nothing is more welcome than the first blossoms on snowdrops, crocus, magnolias, forsythia and other plants that herald the beginning of another growing season. My tip: share the expensive garden tools with neighbours! Use sprays at dusk to avoid harming pollinating insects. Pinch out the tips on broad beans to encourage a good pod set and to deter attacks from aphids. Planting: Spinach is happiest in cool weather, so a garden spot with afternoon shade is ideal. Cauliflower 8. Ventilate the greenhouse and cold frame when the outside temperature rises above 40ºF (4ºC). However, getting your garden to this state of nirvana takes a lot of patience, care, and, most importantly, it needs to be planned well in advance. The best plants for zone 6 that can be sown outside as early as March are cold weather crops like lettuce, radishes, and peas. But if you plant the right crops, you can actually start your garden now — and be harvesting by April or May! Make successive sowing at 10 to 14-day intervals of beets, carrots, lettuce, turnips, runner beans, green beans, endive, radishes, and kohlrabi. Plant out spring vegetables when heavy frost is over. Remove rhubarb flowers as soon as they appear, before they rob the plants of food and energy. Sow basil under glass. Ventilation should be increased on warm days as much as possible to prevent the buildup of diseases in the damp atmosphere. Weed as needed. Sprinkle a general fertiliser around the base of all the shrubs and plants. So when you find a dry, warmish day, grab your cleaned and sharpened garden tools (see: How to Care for Your Garden Pruners), and head outdoors with our April to-do list. Ventilate the greenhouse and cold frame on mild days. Plant pea seeds directly in the ground in early spring when it’s still cool from late March to early April, depending on where you live; they don’t bear well in heat. Pinch out broad bean growing tips to encourage a good pod set and deter attacks from aphids. If you're looking for an aesthetically pleasing vegetable garden, or you don't want to dedicate space in your yard to a garden plot, consider starting an edible garden of plants that are beautiful and functional. Knowing your first and last frost dates will help you start your vegetable seeds at the right time. Cabbage 6. It’s not too late to start a garden this year. Spray peaches and nectarines with a fungicide recommended for peach leaf curl. Choose a sheltered spot with moist soil, to make the first sowing of carrots, beets, and parsley. Harden off plants by reducing the water supply or temperature. I have done so for the last 4 or 5 years. Broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, lettuce, peas, radishes, and spinach will grow in the cold frame now. Gardening is still allowed. Protect recently planted vegetables and herbs from drying winds. Make further sowings of dill, fennel, parsley, and pot marjoram. July. Sow in a cold frame, plastic tunnel, or beneath cloches in areas where frost may still come. Check out Seeds Now for Zone 3 and Zone 4Organic, Non-Gmo Seeds 1. Read more about starting seeds indoors here. You can also place cloches in a position to warm the soil. Remember these roots need to be planted in an area set aside for their growth over several seasons. Harvest To Table The very end of April brings me outdoors planting all types of arugula, lettuces, chard, and spinach. Vegetable garden in early spring with straw mulch April is a time of transition in the vegetable garden. It’s all about catching this brief window of coolness before the temperatures begin to rise. Watch for signs of fire blight; prune affected branches and dispose of them. Set out strawberry bare-roots or seedlings. Begin to thin out overcrowded vegetable seedlings. Recipes: I love to make spinach salad with strawberries and a splash of poppyseed dressing. Celery should be fed about 3 weeks after plants are set out. The end of April brings us about 4 weeks away from our last frost, so we can start planting seeds outdoors! The end result is fresh produce to eat, share, or sell. April is a great time to select and plant fruit trees and berry plants. April is the start of planting season in your backyard garden if you live in Zones 5 and 6. Check tree ties on newly planted trees. If you keep a Coleus as a house plant you can still start cuttings for transplant to the garden. Never apply them to frozen ground, over-saturated ground, or right before a large rain event. This gives the plants plenty of time to grow large and healthy enough to survive their eventual transplanting to the garden. For most crops that can be started indoors, seeds should be started about 6-8 weeks before your last spring frost date. Get rid of weeds and sod in the area you plan to plant. Water garden if weather is dry. Keep grass from going to seed. Water container plants as needed and fertilize them with a water-soluble fertilizer such as compost tea or worm castings. Sow seed or set out transplants of sweet bay, hyssop, lavender, mint, rosemary, rue, and sage. And you can get as close to your flower friends as you want to. Fallow soil to conserve moisture … Protect open flowers from frost damage by draping muslin or horticultural fleece over trees at night. Protect cabbage, lettuce, and other vulnerable vegetables in the garden with cloches, hot caps, plastic tunnels, or inverted flower pots if the nights are expected to get cold. Starting a garden can seem a little intimidating. Feed perennial vegetables with aged compost and compost tea after they begin to grow. Direct sow hardy and half-hardy, cold-tolerant vegetables and herbs now: cabbage family members, leafy greens, and root crops: carrots, beets, cabbage, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, celery, chard, endive, parsnip, potatoes, spinach, and turnips. Support young peas with sticks or netting. You can use the resulting “tea” as a liquid fertilizer. There are so many things to think about and so many options. If you garden in containers, prepare them now. In this far northern zone you may want to start some seeds indoors or work on readying your garden, if you still expect frost. Fruit trees and bushes should not be sprayed with insecticides while the flowers are open or the bees are working. Check for pests and diseases. Remove flowers from newly planted strawberries to prevent fruiting in their first year. The April gardening tips have become shorter because it’s time to get busy planting crops or prepare to plant crops. Sprinkle some seeds on the ground, cover with a thin layer of soil, and you'll start harvesting in just 28 days. Build Your Soil. April is the best month to plant those frost tolerant vegetables like spinach and carrots. Top asparagus crowns with well-rotted compost. Hardy and half-hardy vegetable-starts sowed last month indoors should be ready for the cold frame now. Prune back the stems of newly planted and two-year-old gooseberries by about one-half. Prepare celery and potato trenches by adding a layer of well-rotted manure or garden compost to the trench area. This gives the plants plenty of time to grow large and healthy enough to survive their eventual transplanting to the garden. Broccoli 4. Remove rhubarb flowers as soon as they appear, before they rob the plants of food and energy. Protect open flowers from frost damage by draping muslin or horticultural fleece over trees at night. Spray fruit trees for over-wintering pests with dormant spray oil when the temperature rises above 45ºF (7ºC) and before buds break. Train blackberries and loganberries onto support wires. Cold-tolerant vegetables can be planted into containers this month. https://www.thespruce.com/regional-gardening-guide-for-april-1403158 Add soil amendments like finished compost. Reply. Dig a 5-cm (or more) layer of compost, well-rotted manure or green waste into beds. Enter your location above to get your spring and fall planting dates!. Bean Varieties: Best Bets and Easy-to-Grow, Watermelons for Home Garden: Top 10 Varieties. Interesting about not starting tomatoes until April 1; I have not heard that before. Tenth Acre Farm by Twisted Creek press, Click here to see my Year-Round Gardening Calendar, my tips for harvesting beets plus a ton of beet recipes, This culinary sage from Botanical Interests, this heirloom Di Cicco variety from Botanical Interests, Nero Toscana kale from Botanical Interests, Parris Island romaine from Botanical Interests, how I grow Swiss chard in my edible landscape, this heirloom variety from Botanical Interests for making sauerkraut, These Botanical Interests’ Easter egg radishes, how I grow calendula in my permaculture garden, jumbo ones with edible seeds from Botanical Interests, Starting Seeds Indoors: A Step-by-Step Guide, Four Garden Planning Tools You Need This Year, March Garden Guide: Planning, Planting, and More, Young spring greens like kale and lettuce, Basil (I like the classic Genovese Italian variety. Fruits and berries do best when planted in full sun. Cover berries with netting to keep away birds. Use a sharp clean knife to cut the stem just below a leaf node. Clean the Garden. May be why start to go bad a few weeks before I can get them in the ground. Clear the Ground. You should begin preparing your garden well before it’s actually time to start … The materials you need to start a garden can add up in cost. Begin a new compost pile during the spring if you don’t already have one. Sprinkle sulfate of potash around the root-feeding area of apples, pears, and plums to encourage good fruiting later in the year. It's very important to test your soil before you start adding things … Focus on shrubs, perennials and fruit and vegetables this month. Blackheart celery disease is caused by alternate drying and wetting of the soil. Water in dry regions regularly and deeply. Keep celery moist by regular irrigation. Peas like the cooler weather, and can be planted outdoors about 5 weeks before your last frost. Use horticultural fleece or floating cloches for early corps already in the garden if you don’t have conventional cloches. Oregon is in USDA plant hardiness zones 5-9. As the soil warms up and everything starts growing, April is a good time to give garden shrubs a feed just as the growing season is starting. Earth up potatoes as they grow. Keep the garden free of weeds. Fasten grape stems to training wires. Spray against pests and disease when the buds burst or after the flower petals fall, but never on open flowers. Herbs can be sown in the garden when the frost has passed. Stop picking asparagus so that the plants do not exhaust themselves. Carrots – How to Preserve Carrots 7. Pinch off runners on new strawberry plants. Yes, I will be starting seeds indoors again this year. Thin seedlings that have grown to size, pot them up, and place them in the cold frame or plant them out later this month. For example, if planting in hardiness zone 5, the last frost date is generally between April 1st – April 15th, and the first frost date typically falls between October 16th – October 31st. Planting vegetable seeds or transplants at the correct time is important to getting the most out of your garden.