April Garden Guide: Preparing for Warm Weather
Note: This is general information for the entire state of Arkansas on what to plant in your garden in April. For specific questions about planting in your area, please reach out to your local county agent.
Many of us are ready and raring to start planting things, but remember there is always the chance of another cold snap, so be sure to wait until after the middle of the month to plant your warm-season plants.
Garden Chores for April
April is a busy month for gardeners. Spring has definitely sprung, and our garden needs a lot of attention!
Following are the garden chores we recommend doing this month:
• Be prepared for an unexpected cold snap or other unpredictable weather, and have frost protection handy for your plants.
• Scout plants regularly for pests like spidermites, slugs, bagworms, and aphids. Contact your agent for tips on how to deal with them.
• Assess plants for winter damage and begin cleaning any damage.
• There is still some time to plant your cool-season vegetables like lettuce, broccoli, greens and onions, but get these in the ground by mid-april.
• Plan out your warm-season garden.
• Stake perennials and vines that risk falling over from their own weight later in the spring or summer.
• Prep annual beds with additives like well-rotted manure, processed manure, peat moss, or compost.
• Watch for honey bee swarms.
Prune, Prune, Prune
Avoid pruning spring bloomers until they’ve finished blooming. Fertilize these plants immediately after bloom. Remember to remove 1/3 of old canes from cane-producing spring-blooming plants like forsythia, quince, weigela, and spring-blooming spirea.
Benefits of Mulching
Mulch is a gardener’s best friend! Do yourself a favor this month and replenish the mulch in your yard. Mulching is a great way to help prevent weeds and diseases in your garden, but mulch also helps to retain moisture and keep soil warm, especially on chillier days.
Mulch is anything that acts as a barrier between the plant and the soil. It can be anything from newspaper or craft paper to wood chips or something more aesthetically pleasing.
There are lots of mulch options. Spread down newspaper, shred your junk mail and lay that down. It doesn’t have to be as aesthetically pleasing in the vegetable garden as it does in ornamental beds. Mulching a large garden may seem like a lot of work on the front end, but the amount of weeds it will cut down on will make it worth the effort.
Get Ready for Warm-season Gardening
Although you may already find them in garden centers, wait for more consistently warm weather (usually around mid- to late-april, depending on where you live in the state) before planting your warm-season vegetables like tomatoes, eggplants and peppers.
Plant okra, peppers, southern peas, and sweet potatoes later this month or around the first of May. Warm soil is critical for these plants. Plant too early and the frost may get to them, and then you will have to replant.
Did you bring plants indoors over the winter?
You can start moving houseplants back outdoors later this month, but you may want to wait until early May, especially if you live in North Arkansas just to be on the safe side. You can divide and repot your houseplants when you set them out.
Keep an Eye Out for Honey Bee Swarms
Have you noticed a honey bee hive in your yard? Now is the time of year when honey bees start swarming, so keep an eye out on your property for masses of them. If you see a swarm, contact your local county extension office for removal options in your area.
Thinking of starting a beehive? Check out UA Extension’s resources for keeping honey bees.
Eastern Tent Caterpillars
In March, April, or sometimes as late as May, eastern tent caterpillars will come out. Tent caterpillar nests may appear unsightly to homeowners, especially when exposed by severe defoliation. And numerous caterpillars crawling over sidewalks, driveways, and on buildings may be considered a nuisance. But these caterpillars don’t present any danger to us. Just consider them native wildlife which will be here for a short time, then gone again until next spring. (Note on eastern test caterpillars courtesy of Arkansas Extension entomologist Dr. Jon Zawislak.)
April Vegetable Planting Guide
Ready to start your summer garden? In mid to late April, you can plant lots of vegetables. Check out the veggies and fruit we recommend planting this month on the Extension Website Planting Guide: asparagus, sweet corn, summer squash, okra, peppers, cucumbers, sweet potatoes, eggplants, tomatoes, beans (snap, lima), edamame, kohlrabi, swiss chard, lettuce, radish, beets, watermelon, and cantaloupe.
Strawberry Gardening Tips
To protect your strawberry plants from pesky, hungry birds, you can put up bird netting. You will also want to watch for slugs, as they like a tasty strawberry.
If you have newly planted strawberries, you can encourage the production of runners by removing all their flowers in the first season. You will also want to fertilize your strawberry beds around late August or early September to encourage a good bloom set next year.
Start an Arkansas Herb Garden
Plant an herb garden this year so you can cook with fresh, homegrown flavors! If you are new to herb gardening, here are our top five favorite herbs to plant in Arkansas that are both very popular in recipes and easy to grow: basil, oregano, thyme, rosemary and chives.
Itching to plant some other herbs? Dill, parsley, and fennel are great for butterfly gardens.
April Flower Planting Guide
Last month, we started the process of digging and dividing our summer- and fall-blooming perennials, and there is still time to do this! Continue on this month, and don’t forget that sharing is caring!
Also, like many of the other plants we will be planting this month, you will want to wait until midapril or later to plant. We recommend planting the following flowers in April: calibrachoa, verbena, petunias, begonias, clematis, canna, dahlia, gladiolus, tuberose, butterfly weed, passionflower, hyacinth vine, moon vine and cypress vine.
Attract Butterflies to Your Garden
To encourage butterflies to spend some time in your yard this year, plant some butterfly-friendly plants in your flowerbed. Plant host plants for butterflies that will nourish young caterpillars after they hatch. These plants include butterfly weed, parsley, dill, rue, passionflower and tulip tree.
Tips for Annuals
If your winter annuals still look good, fertilize them and enjoy them for another month. If they are not looking so great, replant them with some early warm-season annuals, such as callibrachoa, verbena, petunias and begonias. Wait to plant heat-lovers like lantana and summer impatiens.
Spring Bulb Care
Spring-blooming bulbs that didn’t bloom well this year may be sitting in poor soil and might benefit from some fertilizer. Fertilize these bulbs just after blooming with a complete fertilizer of 5-10-10 at a rate of 2 pounds per 100 square feet.
Allow your spring-blooming bulbs 6 to 8 weeks of green growing time to let them replenish their nutrients. After your bulbs have had a good 6 to 8 weeks, deadhead (remove spent flowers from) hyacinth and tulips.
If you had smaller or fewer blooms than normal, your bulbs may be crowded. You can dig and divide those bulbs when the foliage starts to yellow or freely pull loose when slightly tugged.
You can either replant these bulbs immediately, or you can knock off excess soil, let them air out for a few days, place bulbs in a box with newspaper, and store in a cool, dry place. You can replant these in the fall, around October.
Summer Bulbs
You can set out summer bulbs, such as cannas, dahlias, gladioli and tuberoses, in mid-april. Be sure to plant gladioli several times at 2-week intervals for blooms throughout the summer.
Rose Care
Fertilize established roses once new growth is 2 inches long. Begin spraying to control black spot disease. For recommendations on what to use, contact your local county extension office.
Easter Lilies — Don’t Throw Them Out!
Did you buy Easter lilies or receive them as a gift this year? Don’t throw them out after their blooms are spent! These beauties will come back next year. Plant the bulbs in a sunny spot in your flower garden in welldrained soil and enjoy them late next spring and early summer.
Article reprinted with permission from the University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service: https://www.uaex.uada.edu/yard-garden/arkansas-garden/garden-guides/april.aspx.