It is Time To...

* Clean out annual plant containers. Give them a good washing and replace with fresh growing media.

* Weed the garden early to prevent their spread. Keep an eye out for volunteers that can be replanted elsewhere.

* Deer damage also entails shredding of a shrubs branches. Cut back to live tissue and fertilize.

* Soil pH does not affect the bloom of white hydrangeas. It does affect pink and blue hydrangeas. Acidic soil produces blue flowers, while alkaline soil produces pink flowers. Add lime now to ensure pink blooms. Add sulphur to create blue flowers.

* Prune foliage from evergreens that have a burned appearance. Boxwoods, Hollies, and Azalea are just some of the shrubs that may be affected by this past winter.

* Check trees and shrubs for broken or diseased branches. Prune back to healthy wood. Prune summer-blooming shrubs, removing any dead wood and any branches that are not desirable.

* Early April is the best time to apply a crabgrass preventer to the lawn. Consider organic corn gluten meal as an alternative to chemical controls.

* Spray deer-attracting plants with Bobbex, a deer repellent and 100% organic fertilizer.  On fast-growing plants, like tulips, remember to spray new growth every seven days.

* Fertilize your garden as needed.  Add fertilizer to the soil surface or in the planting hole.  We recommend an organic fertilizer or a slow release.

* Test the pH in your garden to see if soil pH needs to be altered.  Each plant has a different pH preference range. (See related article)

* Divide fibrous-rooted  (i.e. several small roots but no dominant root) perennials if they have fully matured.  Phlox, coreopsis, scabiosa and other fibrous-rooted perennials respond best to being divided in April. 

* After Tulips and Daffodils have bloomed, cut off their tops to prevent seed pods from forming. Let the foliage remain on the bulbs for three weeks after they are done blooming. Fertilize bulbs after they have bloomed.

* Put plant supports such as peony hoops and grow throughs in place  over perennials before the stems become unmanageable.

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