PITAYA -- Petunias such as this Cascadias Pitaya capture the essence of spring with their beautiful colors and vigorous growth. (Photo by MSU Extension/Eddie Smith)
by Bronwynne Bailey
As warmer weather arrives, you may spend more time outside and working in your yard. If you’re like me, you’ve probably made a trip or two to your local garden center looking for plants and other garden necessities. After reading over this garden checklist, you may need to make a few more trips. Here are some tasks to check off this month.
Planting
- Select and plant crape myrtles while in bloom to be sure of their color.
- Plant annuals and perennials early in the month and keep well-watered. Read publication Annual & Perennial Flowers for Mississippi Gardens (Publication Number: P1826) for guidelines in selecting plants.
- Take hydrangea cuttings and root in coarse sand.
- In the shade, plant impatiens, coleus, sweet alyssum, lobelia, and annual dianthus.
- In full sun, plant verbenas, periwinkle, ageratum, marigolds, zinnias, petunias, wax begonias, clematis, four-o’clocks, and portulaca.
- Plant cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, squash, peas, beans, eggplant, corn, okra, parsley, watermelons, and cantaloupes.
Fertilizing
- Fertilize warm-season turf grass after it turns green and has been mown twice.
- Fertilize all ornamental shrubs.
- Spreading a two to three-inch-deep layer of mulch over your garden hinders most weeds from growing and helps your soil hold moisture when the weather is hot and dry. Mulches made from organic matter also improve your soil as they decompose. Never mulch around trees and shrubs in the shape of a volcano.
Pest Control
- Scout for garden pests and diseases: red spiders, thrips, aphids, lace bugs, lacewings, mealy bugs, caterpillars, slugs, snails, mildew, fungus, and crown rot. Insect Pests of the Home Vegetable Garden (Extension Publication 2347) is a great resource, providing detail on the many insects you will encounter during growing season.
Pruning
- Prune azaleas, camellias and gardenias after flowers drop and before new buds form. The deep freeze we had this year may have caused some damage to these shrubs. Pruning will encourage your plants to flush out with new growth but be wary of pruning until the threat of frost has passed. Timing of the last frost varies from late February on the Coast to late March or early April in north Mississippi.
- Cutting bouquets regularly will keep your plants pruned and prolong the blooming season. Cut in early morning or late afternoon and put into water immediately.
- Graft pecans using the four-flap method. Publication Four Flap Grafting of Pecans (PDF: P3810.pdf) will provide more detail on this task.
Miscellaneous
- Prevent weeds from being a big problem by removing when they’re young. The smaller the weeds are, the easier they are to pull. Plus, you keep them from reproducing.
- Keep a garden journal by jotting down notes every week as you garden so you can refer to it next year. For example, if you noticed that your clematis started getting powdery mildew last July, try treating it in June to prevent the disease. Also, photographing your garden over the seasons creates a visual record of your garden through the year.
- Keep your garden tools and mower blades sharp to make gardening easier. Dirt, rocks, sidewalks and soil quickly dull metal edges. Hone your working edge easily with a cut mill file available at your local hardware store or purchase a specialized garden tool sharpener.
Home Accent
- Repot house plants during their active growing period: April through September.
- Repot and divide overcrowded ferns.
Blooming
- Big leaf magnolias, pineapple guavas, southern magnolias, gardenias, abelias, Texas sage, gumpo azaleas, smoketrees, chastetrees, crepe myrtles, roses of Sharon, buddleias, and cleyeras. Begonias, impatiens, salvias, geraniums, clematis, phlox, sweet William, deutzia.
Fruiting
- Green ashes, aucubas, blueberries, redbuds, wisterias.
