Spring Cleaning by Cinthia Milner

Written by Cinthia Milner of B.B. Barns (April 2017)

Although those April showers do bring May flowers, your garden and yard will still benefit from a little TLC—and a strategic game plan.

Ah, April. The dogwoods are blooming, the azaleas are carpeting lawns in mass color, and we’re feeling, well, overwhelmed. Spring garden chores are looming as we swoon over April blooms and wonder how our neighbors manage that perfect lawn.

One of my jobs as a garden coach is to remind folks that the garden is a process. Garden chores will get done, just not all at once. Start by giving yourself permission not to finish the chore list the first weekend the weather is nice. Your back and knees will appreciate the pace.

So, chin up. There’s a lot to do outside, and April’s weather will be fickle, but spring will keep pushing forward, and so will we.

Frost Cloth, Blankets, Sheets, Leaves
Have a good frost protection plan, especially if you’re a vegetable gardener. We get confident when those 60°-70° days roll around, but it’s April and 20° nights will come. The average last frost date for Western North Carolina is April 10th, though many old timers to Asheville won’t plant annuals or warm season vegetables until after Mother’s Day. Be a good scout and be prepared.

You’ve got a several options: blankets, sheets, row covers, or frost cloth. Frost cloth and row covers are available at most nurseries, but they’re almost guaranteed be sold out on the day the frost is predicted, so plan ahead. Row covers are for vegetable gardens and are easily slipped over new lettuces or broccoli heads. Frost cloth is a scratchy fabric that looks like a blanket and protects to different degrees of temperature. Be sure to ask for one that protects as low as 10° to 20°. If your landscape is small and you have the extra blankets or sheets, use those.

Plants that are sensitive to spring frost include all vegetables and strawberries, azaleas, rhododendrons, hydrangeas, all fruiting trees and bushes, and many perennials. If you’re not sure whether to cover or not, check with a nursery or the North Carolina Cooperative Extension (NCCE; www.ces.ncsu.edu).

By the time you read this, spring perennials may already be blooming, while summer perennials may just be coming up. Cover emerging shoots with leaves. Cover blooming plants with buckets, old nursery pots, whatever is handy. You get the idea; one size does not fit all. Incidentally, draping a blanket over the plant won’t work. It must go all the way to the ground and be held down with bricks or other heavy objects. The purpose is to capture heat radiating from the ground inside your homemade tent.

Water the soil well before you cover because moist soil radiates more heat. Remove the coverings early the next day before temperatures rise, so plants won’t fry.

If this seems daunting, there’s another option: Instagram it. Take pictures the day before that hard freeze, and post to your favorite social media for prosperity. Remember, you’re the gardener. It’s about what you can do.

Fertilize, Compost, Mulch
Most homeowners don’t fertilize their plants seasonally. The assumption is that plants get what they need from the soil and surrounding environment. While that is true, adding fertilizer is one step to ensure the sustainability of that environment. As plants grow and draw nutrients from the soil, they deplete the soil. In natural environments, like a forest, where leaves and other debris biodegrade back into the soil, the soil is replenished naturally. In our landscapes, where leaves are blown away with leaf blowers, fertilizing gives plants crucial nutrients. (If you’ve never done a soil test, do one now. Contact the NCCE to find out how. Understanding your soil aids in knowing which fertilizer to add.)

When fertilizing, use either an acidic fertilizer or an alkaline one. The flowering dogwood, for example, prefers an acidic fertilizer, while maples require a more alkaline one. Apply exactly as the fertilizer recommends. A good layer of compost is also beneficial to the soil and your plants. You can buy bagged compost or start your own compost pile. Compost piles are a great way to recycle yard waste and replenish lawns and landscapes. It’s an organic solution to building a better soil for your plants.

Adding mulch helps retain moisture and is a barrier to weeds that compete for nutrients. An inch to two inches of mulch is all that’s necessary. Avoid piling mulch around trees, giving them the “candle in the cupcake” look, which is dangerous to the longevity of a tree. You should always be able to see the root flair of your trees.

Fertilizing plants supports a healthy immune system, making them less susceptible to disease and pests. This makes for a happier July and August when pests and diseases are the primary garden chores.

Prune
Pruning stimulates growth and increases fruits and flowers. Pruning early on establishes the architecture of the tree or shrub, and makes pruning in subsequent years easier. This chore is pretty much a must-do if you don’t want a jungle on your hands in short order.

Begin with dead, diseased, damaged, or dying wood. These should be removed throughout the year, because where limbs are torn, or dead wood hangs on, that is a perfect spot for disease and pests to harbor. Second, it’s important to thin out the plant to avoid overcrowding its interior, allowing better air circulation and sunlight penetration. This is especially important for fruit trees and berry bushes. Third, remove crossing branches; again, this rubbing together creates another host spot for disease and pests. Remove watersprouts and suckers. Suckers are vegetative growth from the root system, and watersprouts are vegetative growth from branches or trunk. Suckers compete for nutrients and watersprouts’ vertical growth clutters the interior of the plant.

Don’t prune spring flowering shrubs like azaleas, rhododendrons, forsythias, lilacs, and weigela until after the flowers fade but before July 4th. Most spring blooming shrubs bloom on old wood, and pruning before July 4th gives the plant time to put out new growth and thus more flowers for next year. It’s best to know what plants you have and when to prune them. A good pruning book or online resource will give you that information.

Pruning completes your three big spring chores. Fertilizing, mulching, and pruning take the longest—from here on out, it’s easy sailing.

Tidy the Beds
Clean out perennial beds of matted leaves and debris, cutting back any of last year’s missed perennials. Hellebore leaves, ornamental grasses, and any seed stalks you left for the birds can be cut back now. Weeds are generally the first to arrive, so be vigilant and start pulling now. It may seem that weeds always win the day, but it’s possible to get an early start and stay on top of them. (Well, let’s talk in August and see how we feel about that statement.)

Plant
April is a good month for planting trees and shrubs. Do amend the soil with a 50-50 mix of native soil and amendment of choice. Plants must learn to grow in their native environment, so don’t overdo on the amendment, but don’t skimp, either. Remember, we’re always building a better soil. And research which amendment is best for your soil. Example: Soil conditioner is recommended if you have heavy clay soils. It can be added as an amendment or used as mulch. A blended amendment that contains compost, manure, and topsoil works well when backfilling planting holes.

When planting, be sure to root prune the plant when you remove it from the container. The plant was grown in a container and every time the roots hit the side of that container, it root pruned itself and the roots circled downward. If you plop the plant in the ground like that, the roots won’t unwind naturally. Root pruning is done by removing any broken or diseased roots, and then teasing roots out to look like the spokes of a wheel. It may require scoring the roots to get the process started, depending on how tightly wound the roots are. You will not hurt the plant (or the roots) by scoring them.

Dig a hole the depth of the container but twice the width of it. This allows for backfilling with the mixture of amendment and native soil. Water well immediately after planting, making sure the soil is moist. And, while spring often brings showers, watering is still essential that first season to get new plantings established. A good rain gauge helps. Gardens need an inch of water a week. If yours isn’t getting that, then watering becomes your job. Water slowly, allowing water to penetrate soil, circling around the drip line of the plant as you go. You want the water to percolate down, soaking the root ball. The horticulture cliché applies: Watering deeply and infrequently is better than frequently and shallow, which will not soak the roots, only the top layer of soil. So water deeply twice a week to help establish the plant.

Planting is one job that pays off in spades—pun intended—if you do it right, establishing the plant for future drought, pest, and disease.

Transplanting
Now is the time to divide certain perennials. Rule of thumb: For spring blooming perennials, divide in the fall; summer and fall blooming perennials, in the spring. It’s a simple job that helps grow the garden. Perennials benefit from division every three to five years. It’s as easy as digging the plant up (when you first see new shoots), taking a good knife (a Japanese garden knife is the best), and splitting the plant in half or thirds, then replanting. As with planting, use amendment and water to reestablish.

Benches
Finally, every garden needs a bench because every gardener needs a place to stop, rest, and enjoy the fruits of their labors. If yours doesn’t have one, then from the garden coach to you, that’s your first garden chore. Put in a bench before the hard work begins.

Cinthia Milner
is a garden coach at B.B. Barns Garden Center & Landscaping Services in Arden, NC.

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