April in the Garden

…or how I learned to enjoy the stormy weather!

Will April showers bring May flowers? Let’s hope we get some more rain this April but not the torrential downpours or wicked tornado winds that March brought to Central Texas two weeks ago. April can be the most beautiful time in a Lakeway garden. One of my favorite spring flowers is called by the very unfortunate name “Spiderwort” (Tradescantia ohiensis). Plant a little clump and you will be surprised how it will liven up your yard in the springtime. The bright blue, purple and yellow flowers only last until 1 pm before they close up for the day but they are worth the early retirement. Spiderwort is a must for people wanting to attract bees at this time of year!

April Garden Tips

Flowers to Plant

Cosmos
Cleome
Celosia
Nasturtium
Zinnias
Dusty Miller
Coleus
Aster
Jacobinia
Mexican Heather
Impatiens
Verbena
Saliva
Petunias
Pentas
Nicotiana
Periwinkle
Hamelia
Begonia
Purslane
Lantana
Flowering Balsam
Coreopsis
Marigold
Gomphrena

Seeds to Sow

Beans – pole, snap, lima
Beets
Cantaloupe
Corn
Cucumber
Greens – warm season
Peas – southern
Pumpkins
Squash – summer, winter
Watermelon

Things to Transplant

Eggplant
Peppers
Sweet Potatoes
Tomatoes

Things to Sow or Transplant

Swiss Chard

April Garden To-Dos

Fertilize your lawn

Central Texas lawns need to be fed twice a year, once in spring after the lawn has been mown twice; and fertilize again in the fall. There are many good, organic options on the market – look for a solid, slow-release fertilizer with an N-P-K formulation that has a higher amount of nitrogen (N), which is the nutrient that encourages green, leafy development in plants. If you haven’t aerated your lawn within the past 3 to 5 years, then do it this spring. Top dress with compost before or after aerating for maximum benefit.

Feed your plants

March and April are the best months to fertilize established trees, shrubs, and other plants for spring. Spray the landscape with seaweed solution in the morning or evening up to once a week. Also use seaweed solution to water in new transplants to help relieve transplant shock and stimulate rooting.

Feed your soil

It’s important to feed your plants, but also, to feed your soil! Using a liquid soil activator is a great way to improve microbial activity and soil structure. If you haven’t done so yet, top dress your lawn, flower beds, and gardens with compost.

Pull or treat weeds before they seed

Cover bare soil! For the health of your soil, and to prevent weeds, keep your soil covered at all times with plants or compost and mulch. Bare soil invites weeds. Consider planting summer cover crops, such as buckwheat or black-eyed peas, in fallow areas. Add compost, then mulch, to other bare soil areas. An inch or two of compost, and two or three inches of mulch is needed to get the benefits of weed suppression and moisture retention. Other benefits include cooler, looser, more fertile soil.

Combat caterpillars

There are little caterpillars that dangle in great numbers from the oak trees each spring. To save our oaks and plants from defoliation, B.t. or Bacillus thuringensis is a natural solution for caterpillars only. The goal in organic pest control is to be as specific as possible, and only target the culprit pests to leave the beneficial insects to do their work. Apply according to package directions to the leaves of your oak trees and the underlying plants. When the caterpillars take a bite, they’ll start to get sick. B.t. works on all caterpillars (keep it away from your butterfly garden!) including the Genista which feed on the Texas mountain laurel, and tomato hornworms. If you want to avoid the spraying altogether next year, mark your calendar to release Trichogramma wasps in January or February. These tiny, non-stinging wasps parasitize the eggs of these caterpillars as well as several other pests.

Monitor your plants for insects

Aphids, thrips, whiteflies, stink bugs, and their ilk are best controlled early on, when they’re nymphs or larvae, using the least toxic solution. Correct identification of the bug is the first step!