April Gardening Tips & Monthly Plant Care Guide

April is the month when winter fades and spring (and your garden!) awakens. It's time for planting, prepping, and getting your outdoor spaces ready to shine. From lawn care and pruning to planting vegetables and flowers, Grimm’s Gardens is here with all the tips you need to make your garden thrive this spring.

Lawn Care in April

Crabgrass Prevention: If you haven’t yet applied a crabgrass preventer such as Hi‑Yield Turf & Ornamental Weed & Grass Stopper containing Dimension, apply it now before crabgrass begins to germinate. The best timing is when redbud trees are in full bloom. Water this treatment in with rain or irrigation.

Begin Mowing: Start mowing as the grass begins to grow. For Kentucky bluegrass, mow at 2–3 inches; for fescue, mow at 3–4 inches. If you have a mixed species lawn, mowing at 5–6 inches or waiting until late May may be more appropriate.

Sharpen Blades: Sharpen mower blades every 3–4 cuttings for clean cuts and healthier turf.

First Fertilizer Application: Apply a slow‑release nitrogen fertilizer to cool‑season lawns now. Do not fertilize warm‑season grasses at this time.

Vegetable Garden Tasks

• If you have not already, plant your cool-season crops like:
• • Potatoes
  • Onions
  • Carrots
  • Beets
  • Parsnips
  • Turnips
  • Peas
  • Greens
  • Spinach
  • Brassicas (cabbage, cauliflower, collard greens, broccoli)
• Avoid Tilling wet soil to prevent subsurface compaction and hardpan formation. Only till when soil is lightly moist or dry. Incorporate compost, shredded leaves, biochar, or worm castings to improve organic matter. 
• Mulch between garden rows and around emerging plants with alfalfa or sawdust mulch to conserve moisture and suppress weeds.
• If planted in March, you can begin thinning carrots, beets, turnips and parsnips.
• Lettuce, Spinach, and other greens may be ready for an early harvest.
• Asparagus will begin emerging when soil temperatures reach a steady 50°F. Harvest shoots by bending and snapping them or cutting with a sharp knife when they reach 6-8 inches tall. 
• In many areas, it is also time to look for morel mushrooms emerging in early spring.
• Continue to sow warm season vegetables indoors like tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, herbs, flowers, cucumbers and watermelon.

April Fruit Care

April is an excellent month to add fruit trees and berry plants to your landscape and establish perennial fruits:

Plant Fruit Trees and Plants: Varieties of fruit trees and plants include apple, peach, nectarine, pear, plum, apricot, sweet or pie cherry, grapes, honeyberry, blueberry, raspberry, blackberry, currant, gooseberry, wild plum and chokecherry.

Pruning:  If you have not already pruned your fruit trees and berry bushes, it’s not too late. Fruit trees can still be pruned through early May, and blackberries, raspberries, and grapes can be pruned until May 1st.

Mulching:  ​Apply mulch around planted fruit trees and plants to conserve moisture and suppress weeds.

Expert Support: Grimm's Gardens is available to help design and establish orchards or perennial fruit gardens!

Flower Garden Care

• You should be done (or nearly done) with spring cleanup, but you can refer back to March to find out what should be pruned or cut back for the season.
• Roses can be pruned. Shrub and hybrid tea roses should be cut down 3 to 4 canes per plant and 12 - 16 inches high. Remove any canes showing dark lesions or spots which is Rose Stem Canker. Do not prune drift or climbing roses except to remove dead or diseased canes.
• Use a rose fertilizer formulated for roses or enrich beds with compost. We recommend Fertilome Rose & Flower Food plus Systemic, which not only fertilizes but also prevents damage from aphids, whiteflies, and scale.
• Refresh the mulch in all beds with 1-2 inches of fresh material, aiming for a total of 3 -4 inches coverage. 
• Panicle hydrangeas can be pruned now if not already completed.
• Start planting ornamental perennials, grasses, roses, shrubs, and trees now. If you see gaps in your garden, look for plant to fill in or consult Grimm's Gardens for recommendations!

Trees and Shrubs

Mulch Trees and Shrubs: Apply organic mulch in a wide tree ring at least 6-10 feet in diameter from the trunk; extending out or beyond the dripline if possible. 

Shrub Pruning: Prune summer-flowering shrubs such as ninebark, Japanese spirea, beautyberry and buttonbush before they leaf out; it's way easier to see where to cut without leaves!

Evergreen Shrub Shaping: Prune evergreen shrubs such as boxwood, holly, arborvitae, yew, and juniper before new growth begins.

Houseplants

Don't let your indoor plant care fall by the wayside as spring arrives! 

• Clean and remove the dust from your houseplants (except African violets) by gently rinsing with rom-temperature water.
• Repot plants if they haven't been repotted within the last year. Remove from the old container, tease roots gently if they are circling, and plant in a container at least 1 inch large in diameter than the previous one.
• Water plants thoroughly until water runs from the bottom of the pot for at least 30 seconds to leach excess salts and nutrients.
• Some houseplants can be propagated at this time by root cuttings or division.

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