April Gardening Calendar

                                  April Gardening Calendar

Start planning for Spring. April is the perfect month to start planning your garden for the current year. As a refresher for last year’s thoughts, ideas or plants you were thinking about purchasing, dust off your gardening journal to see what changes or additions you wanted to make this year. A garden is always evolving.

Irrigation: In zones where your irrigation was turned off for the winter. Irrigation should be checked each year in spring. Turn on the irrigation to make sure the irrigation heads are working properly. Check for leaks, cracked heads, and spray direction. Some issues you may be able to fix yourself, if not call an irrigation specialist.

Roses: Your roses should be trimmed between February 12 – 20, if you have not pruned your hybrid tea roses it’s not too late to trim them now. For more information on trimming, caring, and fertilizing your roses click on my blog article on Rose Care.

Vegetable Gardening: Till the soil when you have a designated area for vegetables in your garden. This preventative measure helps to eliminate weeds, insects, and nematodes. Don’t have room for a vegetable garden, but would like to grow your own vegetables? All vegetables can be grown in large planters. The recommended size for vegetables is 16 inches or larger. In fact, that’s how I grow my vegetables each season. Garden center retailers are still reporting skyrocketing sales for vegetable starts and seeds this year versus last year’s sales. Start planning and planting your vegetable garden now to reap the rewards of homegrown vegetables, if you are thinking about having a vegetable garden this year, today is the time to start. Put on your gardening gloves and reap the rewards and benefits of a spring vegetable garden. For more information on Spring VegetableGardening Click Here.

Color Annuals: April is the month to start thinking about replacing your cool weather color annuals with spring and summer annuals. Here are a few of my favorites: Caladiums, Celosia, Coleus, Cosmos, Dahlberg Daisy, Dusty Miller, Gazania, Geranium, Gerbera Daisy, Ivy Geranium, Lantana, Marigolds, Mexican Sunflower, Moss Rose, Periwinkle, Petunia, Primrose, Purslane, Salvia, Snapdragons, Verbena, Wax Begonia, and Zinnia. All of the annuals mentioned can be planted in soil or in containers.

Bulbs: If you have spring bulbs that are still blooming you may want to enjoy a few of the flowers as fresh cuts indoors. On all perennial bulbs, let the foliage die back naturally, as the foliage dies the bulb transports the nutrients from the foliage to the bulb and will use the nutrients from the foliage and stores the nutrients to the bulb for next year’s growth and flowers. As the foliage dies and it may look untidy and displeasing. To alleviate this annoyance, you can pull up the foliage in a bunch and then roll the foliage down as you would a paper bag, and then tie the rolled-up foliage with a rubber band.

Shrubs: Trim your spring flowering shrubs after they finish blooming and fertilize with the appropriate plant food.

Azaleas: Once your azaleas finish blooming trim back to shape. Azaleas bloom on last year’s growth so it is important to trim your Azaleas no later than the middle of June. Azalea’s set their blooms during the fall months, and this is one reason to trim your Azaleas during the time frame that is provided. After pruning your Azaleas, you need to fertilize them with an Azalea plant food and also add a new layer of mulch. Instead of throwing your spent coffee or tea grounds away your Azaleas will benefit from sprinkling the grounds around your Azalea bushes. 

Prune Pampas Grass and other ornamental grasses trim to about 12 to 24 inches. Prune Lantana and Cannas to about 6 to 10 inches. Shape Crepe Myrtles and Altheas and remove old seed heads. Do not hat rack the Crepe Myrtles. Crepe Myrtles do better without being trimmed to 4 – 6 feet above the ground.

Decorate Your Patio With Tropical Color: Now is the time to start thinking about spring-cleaning your patio and your patio furniture. After sprucing up your patio you may want to redecorate the patio for summer fun with tropical plants that really know how to beat the summer heat. Tropical plants will bloom repeatedly throughout the summer until first frost. Here are a few of my tropical color favorites: Allamanda, Bougainvillea, Copper Plant, Hibiscus, Mandevilla, Pentas, and Shrimp Plant. Hibiscusandmore.com features fine art prints of tropical plants. Click Here Fine Art Prints.

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Enjoy the Health Benefits of Gardening

 

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Enjoy the Health Benefits of Gardening

Gardening is an enjoyable hobby that a person of any age can take up. Not only is it an exhilarating activity, but it can also provide many mental and physical health benefits when done regularly. From eating more healthily to enhancing your mood, Hibiscus and More outlines the many benefits that gardeners of all ages can enjoy.

Enhances Health and Mood

Gardening can seem to be a relaxing activity at first glance, but, as Maryland Primary Care Physicians notes, you're actually getting an aerobic workout when you're outside for even just half an hour. From simpler tasks, such as watering, to more involved usage of heavy tools, you'll find that getting outside and working in your garden is a great way to keep active.

Aside from the physical benefits of this exercise, Food & Wine points out that you'll also notice your mood improves when you garden, much like with any other aerobic activity. Getting out for even just an hour a day can help you consistently get exercise and reduce stress at the same time.

Enables Healthier Eating 

Another health benefit that comes from gardening is a healthier diet. Rather than eating sugary snacks during the day, reaching out to homegrown fruits or vegetables can help you reduce hunger and gain energy in a healthier way. If you don't know where to start, try growing easy vegetables, such as carrots, beets, or squash. For more information on growing homegrown vegetables.

Builds a Strong Mind 

Gardening can also have a positive effect on various aspects of your mental health. When you create a garden and tend to plants, you must focus on one thing at a time. This helps build a strong mind by increasing your mindfulness and attention span.

You may also find yourself developing a growth mindset as you watch seedlings become fully grown plants over a long period of time. As gardening is a task that doesn't require you to be perfect, it's a great opportunity to move beyond perfectionism and develop a healthy outlook for your own life.

Positive Reinforcement 

Accomplishing goals in the garden, like nurturing a plant from seed to bloom, is a testament to patience, dedication, and the ability to nurture growth. These qualities are essential not only in gardening but also in pursuing academic goals such as earning a psychology degree online. The same approach that brought you gardening success can be applied to your academic journey. Your success in the garden can be a catalyst for academic achievement, urging you to explore and find out additional information about your options for an online psychology degree, where the seeds of knowledge you plant can flourish into a rewarding career.

Tips for Starting Your Garden

If you want to start a garden, there are a few crucial steps to complete before you start planting. First, clear space in your yard, ideally a spot that receives at least 6 to 8 hours of sunlight every day. Additionally, choose the plants you'll be growing, and do some research about the best times to plant them and the kinds of pests that might become problematic after you’ve planted. It’s best to be prepared so that you can stop bugs in their tracks before they do too much damage.

Once you've planned those details, you can start to sow your seeds in the soil and cover them up. Your seedlings need much less water at first, but continue to water them daily to prevent them from drying out.

Cultivate a Healthier Life

Starting your own garden can be a great way to enjoy a higher level of physical activity and an enhanced mood. You’ll soon discover how your new hobby will enhance your mood, provide more opportunities to maintain a healthy diet, and boost your cognitive abilities.

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All photographs and digital images are ©Cheryl Ann Meola. All Rights Reserved. All photographs and digital images displayed in this newsletter are for viewing purposes only and cannot be duplicated or copied.

April Gardening Calendar

April Gardening Calendar

Roses: Your roses should be trimmed between February 12 – 20, if your have not pruned your hybrid tea roses it is not to late to trim them now. For more information information on trimming, caring, and fertilizing your roses click on my blog.

Vegetable Gardening: Garden center retailers are still reporting skyrocketing sales for vegetable starts and seeds this year versus last year’s sales. Start planning and planting your vegetable garden now to reap the rewards of homegrown vegetables, if you are thinking about having a vegetable garden this year, today is the time to start. Vegetables can also, be planted in large containers or raised planter beds. Put on your gardening gloves and reap the rewards and benefits of a spring vegetable garden. For more information on vegetable gardening click on my blog.

Color Annuals: April is the month to start thinking about replacing your cool weather color annuals with spring and summer annuals. Here are a few of my favorites: Caladiums, Celosia, Coleus, Cosmos, Dahlberg Daisy, Dusty Miller, Gazania, Geranium, Gerbera Daisy, Ivy Geranium, Lantana, Marigolds, Mexican Sunflower, Moss Rose, Periwinkle, Petunia, Primrose, Purslane, Salvia, Snapdragons, Verbena, Wax Begonia, and Zinnia. All of the annuals mentioned can be planted in soil or in containers.

Bulbs: If you have spring bulbs that are still blooming you may want to enjoy a few of the flowers as fresh cuts indoors. On all perennial bulbs, let the foliage die back naturally, as the foliage dies the bulb transports the nutrients from the foliage to the bulb and will use the nutrients from the foliage and stores these nutrients to the bulb for next year’s growth and flowers. As the foliage dies, it may look untidy and displeasing. To alleviate this annoyance you can pull up the foliage in a bunch and then roll the foliage down as you would a paper bag, and then tie the rolled up foliage with a rubber band.

Shrubs: Trim your spring flowering shrubs after they finish blooming, and fertilize with the appropriate plant food.

Azaleas: Once your azaleas finish blooming trim back to shape. Azaleas bloom on last year’s growth so it is important to trim your Azaleas no later than the middle of June. Azalea’s set their blooms during the fall months and this is one reason to trim your Azaleas during the time frame that is provided. After pruning your Azaleas you need to fertilize them with an Azalea plant food and also add a new later of mulch. Instead of throwing your spent coffee or tea grounds away your Azaleas will benefit from sprinkling the grounds around your Azalea bushes.

Decorate Your Patio With Tropical Color: Now is the time to start thinking about spring-cleaning your patio and your patio furniture. After sprucing up your patio you may want to redecorate the patio for summer fun with Hand Crafted Cedar Planters from Hibiscus and More. Tropical color really knows how to beat the heat of summer and will bloom repeatedly through out the summer, and until first frost. Here are a few of my tropical color favorites: Allamanda, Bougainvillea, Copper Plant, Hibiscus, Mandevilla, Pentas, and Shrimp Plant. You may purchase your Hibiscus plants online at HibiscusAndMore.com. Take advantage of our 10% off spring coupon of orders $50.00 or more. Hurry the coupon expires June 30, 2009. Use redemption code: Newsletter at checkout. Visit my blog for more gardening information.

All photographs and digital images are ©Cheryl Ann Meola 2007. All Rights Reserved. All photographs and digital images displayed in this article are for viewing purposes only and cannot be duplicated.