Crabgrass preventer should be applied when
the soil temperature is between 52° and 55°.
Be sure to use a soil thermometer to find the
proper time to apply. Remember, lawn areas
closest to sidewalks and curbs warm faster
than the center of the lawn.
Prepping the Garden
Don’t dig in the garden too early; digging into wet soil will
cause problems. The soil will clump together and be difficult
to work with later on. To test if the soil is ready, take a
trowel and dig out a scoop. Roll into a ball with your fingers
and gently push on the ball. If it stays together, the soil is
too wet. Leave it for a few more days and then try again.
Spring Cleaning
Walk around the yard with a notepad (lawns are safe to
walk on if they don’t feel spongy) and look for things that
will need your attention this spring.
Many summer flowering shrubs
can be pruned in March/April. Plants
may have died over winter or there
may be a place that could hold a
new perennial or shrub. Check the
lawn for snow mold and signs of
vole damage. (See vole
damage below)
Vole Damage
Voles are small rodents that look a lot like mice. You can
tell the difference by the tail; mice have long hairless tails
and voles have short hairy tails. Voles diet mainly consists
of vegetation like grass and roots. If you have a population
of voles you will see trails in the lawn when the snow
melts in the spring. These trails are where the voles have
been feeding on the grass crowns over the winter. This
damage is minor and a little grass seed on the trails will
erase the problem by mid-May. There is a product on the
market called Shake Away® Rodent Repellent. This
product moves the population to another area. Generally
voles live close to more wild areas or thickly planted
landscapes were they could hide from predators.
Planting cool-loving vegetables
April is a great time to set out cool-loving vegetable plants or plant seeds like onions, any member of the cabbage
family, peas, fava beans, lettuce, beets and radishes. If the
soil has dried so it can be worked, the garden planting can
begin. Even if the nights are still frosty these cool-loving
plants can tough it out.
When buying any member of the
cabbage family take the plants out
of the pots before you buy them and
check the root system. The plants
should not be root bound. If the roots
fill the soil space and wrap around
do not buy them, as they may be
stunted and will not produce quality vegetables. Smaller
plants will grow fast and produce a great crop.
Did You Know?
The onion and asparagus are members of the lily family.
The name “asparagus” comes from a Greek word meaning
“sprout”.
Tips
Plant pansies and violas outside even if we are getting
frosty nights - they love cool weather.
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