Gardening Guides
Central Plains Gardening
Central Plains Gardener's April Checklist
Let the show begin! Watch for the first perennials, hold back on trimming spring-blooming shrubs and grow your garden borders
In March you cut down the perennials in anticipation of this — the first green shadows pushing through the mulch. Now it's time to sit back and enjoy the quick spurts of growth. You might want to keep fine-tuning and trimming shrubs, but hold back on those that flower in April and May; there's plenty else to do in the border during the warm afternoons and cool mornings that make spring so invigorating.
Sow vegetable seeds. Toward the middle of the month you can start sowing seeds for vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower and Brussels sprouts. Then at the very end of April, sow corn, beans, squash, melons and sunflowers. Watch that last frost date and the weather forecast — you might have to put out a sheet or two over the plants, and one or two over yourself.
Watch for early-blooming natives. We made it. Winter can be a magical and stunning season, but you know what? So can spring. One of the first flowers you might have coming up is the pasque flower (Pulsatilla vulgaris). This short wildflower is covered in insulating hair and can take the cold nights of April while perking up the warm afternoons with its soft hues.
Resist the urge to prune spring-blooming shrubs, like viburnum, dogwood and spiraea, since they bloom on old growth and not new. Once they're done blooming and setting fruit, you can prune if you need to.
In the background here is the early-May-blooming shrub Viburnum dentatum, a key nectar source for spring insects and a big berry producer for birds.
In the background here is the early-May-blooming shrub Viburnum dentatum, a key nectar source for spring insects and a big berry producer for birds.
Another no-no for mid- to late-spring pruning is crabapple. I mean, why would you want to deprive yourself of this dazzling show? Walk your landscape while you're at it and see where you can jam in some more spring-blooming shrubs and trees — you can never, ever have too many.
Enjoy spring-blooming trees. Here's a dogwood tree (white) in front of a redbud. Both like well-drained soils and bloom in April. These trees are good sources of fruit for wildlife and are ones you might consider for shorter specimens near a patio or below taller trees at a wooded edge.
Nurture perennial borders. This is what your perennial beds should look like — a moonscape with bits of green. Make sure to stay out of those beds and borders, because your heavy footsteps will compact the soil and hurt the roots of both old and new plants revving up for the growing season. Once things are up and you know where they all are, go ahead and mulch — but do wait until you're sure all the plants are above ground to give them a helping hand toward the sunlight.
Design sinuous garden beds. It's never too late to make a new garden bed. Even in vegetable beds, try to avoid square edges that parallel structures or walkways — go back to the 1960s and ask yourself if you really want to be that square. Sometimes a curved line also helps echo the forms of flowing shrubs and perennials that will soon grace the bed, creating an appealing flow for the eye.
More regional garden guides
More regional garden guides