• Blog
    • General Gardening
    • Gardening for Children
    • Gardening Videos
    • Insect Pests
    • Landscape Design
    • Trees
    • Vegetables & Fruits
    • Weeds
  • Events
    • Upcoming Events
    • Event Announcements
  • Gardening Videos
  • Resources
    • Western North Carolina Gardening Guide
    • Online Resources
      • Soil Testing Information for Home Gardeners
    • Speakers Bureau
  • Garden Helpline
    • Collecting Samples of Plants and Insects
  • The Learning Garden
  • About Us
    • About Us
      • How to Become an Extension Master GardenerSM Volunteer
    • The Association
    • Contact Us
    • Speakers Bureau
    • Sponsors
      • Sponsors: 2019 WNC Gardening Symposium
    • Donate
Extension Master GardenerSM Volunteers of Buncombe County
Blog / General Gardening / Seasonal Chores / April Garden Chores

April Garden Chores

March 31, 2015

By April we are really ready to start getting in the garden. Nurseries will soon be well stocked and ready for your business. While plants do sell best when they’re in bloom, when it comes to annual flowers it’s better to look for those that are compact and have only a few, if any, flowers on them. Let the tall, lanky ones with lots of flowers go. For the best selection you might consider buying early and holding the plants for a few weeks. If needed move them to larger pots and move tender plants inside only if a freeze threatens.

Does anyone in the neighborhood have an old-time lawn roller? With all the mole depredation of our lawns, a light pass with a roller before you mow might save some of the higher mole tunnels from being scalped. Some riding mowers have a roller attachment that could do the same thing.

Most woody weeds are better controlled with late summer or fall applications of glyphosate (Roundup). However, research has shown that for English ivy a spring application when the ivy has 2 to 4 new leaves provides better long term control than summer or fall treatments. 

Refresh mulches to prevent summer annual weeds from germinating. But, not too much!  Woody landscape beds should have no more than 4 inches of mulch, including the old and the new. So, when you add new mulch to existing beds, only replenish what has been lost since last year. And don’t pile much against the trunks as the retained moisture can cause crown rot . You want to be able to see the root flare, the point near ground level where the trucks curves outward.

strawberriesgrowingStrawberries can be planted now for next year’s crop but remove any flowers that develop. Check the established bed for weeds and add mulch if needed. If you haven’t finished pruning in the home orchard, better to do it now than let a whole year go by.

This was written by Extension Master Gardener Glenn Palmer in 2008 and originally published in the Asheville Citizen Times.

Share this:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)

Categories Seasonal Chores Tags annuals, April gardening, moles, mulch, perennials, strawberries, weeds

NC Cooperative Extension; Empowering People, Providing Solutions

Blog posts written and published by Extension Master GardenerSM volunteers in Buncombe County.

Subscribe via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to our blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 3,716 other subscribers

Recent Posts

  • Saturday Seminar: Pruning Tools Workshop—Tool Selection and Sharpening, February 18
  • Online Seminar: Fruit Trees for Home Gardens February 16
  • Dramatic Winter Damage? What Should I Do?
  • What’s THAT Evergreen? Can I grow it?
  • A Gardening Guide for Our Mountains: The Perfect Holiday Stocking Stuffer

Categories

  • Events
    • Extension in Buncombe County
    • Extension Master Gardener Plant Clinic
    • Lectures & Seminars
    • Plant Sales
    • School Garden Grants
  • Flowers
    • Bulbs
    • Perennials & Biennials
    • Roses
    • Wildflowers
  • Gardening for Children
  • Gardening Videos
  • General Gardening
    • Installation & Planting
    • Mulch
    • Native Plants
    • Propagation
    • Seasonal Chores
    • Soils & Fertilizers
  • Houseplants
  • Landscaping
    • Firewise Landscaping
    • Landscape Design
    • Site Conditions
    • Water Management
  • Lawns
  • Pest Management
    • Integrated Pest Management (IPM)
    • Invasive Plants
    • Pesticides
    • Weeds
  • Plant Diseases
  • Plant Insects
    • Beneficial Insects
    • Insect Pests
    • Invasive Insects
  • Shrubs
  • Special Gardens
    • Container Gardens
    • Herb Gardens
    • Pollinator Gardens
    • Rain Gardens
    • Shade Gardens
  • Trees
  • Vegetables & Fruits
  • Wildlife

Contact Us

Buncombe County Extension Office
49 Mount Carmel Road
Asheville, NC 28806
Helpline 828-255-5522

Events

Keep up with our events by subscribing to the blog or checking our Events Calendar.

Explore the Archives

Back to Top

Copyright © 2023 Extension Master Gardeners of Buncombe County. Privacy Policy.