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Transplant shrubs and trees when soil becomes workable and before buds
are swelled or broken open
•
Do not rush the warm season annuals. Our last killing frost can
happen in April in north Alabama. That is commonly referred to by
old folks as "the Easter spell."
•
Sow seeds of summer blooming annuals indoors. Seeds which were started
indoors
last
month may be transplanted from the flats into peat pots and given
diluted fertilizer.
•
If you have a greenhouse, it is time to take cuttings of ‘wintered
over’ plants such as coleus, chrysanthemums, geraniums, and other
perennials.
•
Divide and transplant summer blooming perennials and fertilize
established ones as soon as new growth appears.
•
Plant tender bulbs and tubers (gladiola, lilies and dahlias). You may
continue planting additional bulbs every two weeks until mid June to
ensure a continuous source of bloom.
•
Peas and sweet peas may be planted now.
•
Transplant pot-bound houseplants
•
Good time to start hanging baskets of annuals
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Bermuda, zoysia and centipede in South Alabama. Seed grass mixtures in
North Alabama.
•
Aquatics in nursery pots, laundry baskets, shallow pans and large tubs.
Add 1" of pea
or aquarium gravel on surface and thoroughly water before putting in
pond
•
(In warmer areas) Divide hardy water lilies every year or two, can start
six weeks before the last expected freeze
•
Plant to attract butterflies and hummingbirds.
FERTILIZE
•
Test your soil for pH to see if any amendments are necessary. A general
rule of
thumb is to add 4 lbs. of lime per 100 sq. ft. of garden for every pH
point below 6.5,
or 1 lb. of sulfur per 100 sq. ft. for every pH point above 7.5.
Sawdust, composted
oak leaves, wood chips, peat moss, cottonseed meal, and leaf mold lower
the pH
while ashes of hardwoods, bone meal, crushed marble, and crushed oyster
shells raise
the pH. The best way to adjust pH is gradually, over several seasons.
•
Fertilize shrubs and trees. Use an acid type rhododendron fertilizer to
feed evergreens,
conifers, broad leaf evergreens, rhododendrons, azaleas and camellias.
Use an all-purpose fertilizer to feed roses and other deciduous trees
and shrubs. If you use granular type
fertilizers, be sure to water it in thoroughly.
•
Fertilize any bulbs as they finish blooming with bone meal or bulb
booster.
•
If grass needs to be mowed then it is ready to fertilize (thru April).
Do that after about
2nd mowing.
•
Wait until April to fertilize warm season lawn grasses and until May for
Centipede
•
Vegetables: a month after growth starts
•
Fertilize pecan trees with a high nitrogen formula such as 16-4-8.
•
Houseplants with a diluted solution of soluble houseplant food after new
growth appears
•
Use a slow-release fertilizer according to soil test on perennials
•
Roses after pruning and before they leaf out
•
All blooming ornamentals: forsythia, quince, spirea, climbing roses,
camellias, azaleas, etc, only after they bloom.
PRUNE
•
Spring-flowering shrubs and vines only after they finish blooming.
•
Finish pruning fruit trees this month – before the buds swell.
•
To keep pines as a dense hedge, trim new growth or "candles,"
trim when new needles are about half the length of the old needles
•
Gradually move potted hibiscus into more light. Give them a haircut,
then feed to encourage lush growth.
•
Fig trees, Red Tip Photenias, or shape hibiscus
•
Pinch off tips of Sweet Pea seedlings and Mums, when they are 4 inches
tall.
•
Leggy perennials
•
Ornamental grasses to new shoots
•
DO NOT remove leaves from daffodils and jonquils until AFTER they yellow
•
Remove all dead blooms from bulbs
•
Winterkilled leaves from plants around water gardens before and when new
growth appears and compost trimmings |
