Planning
Consider a home consult if you have questions, problem areas, or want to try something new. Master Gardeners can be reached by leaving a message at the MSU Extension Office 662-234-4451. A home consultant specialist will contact you to schedule a visit or answer questions. For consultations, a team of Master Gardeners will come to your property and assist you by answering questions and suggesting plant material. Following the consultation, you will receive a written report from your LCMGA Team. There is no charge to the property owner for this service.
Planting
- Set out most shrubs and trees.
- April is a great time to divide summer perennials. Dividing the flowers helps keep your flowerbeds tidy and prevents them from getting overcrowded. Not sure how to divide perennials? We have a blog post that might come in handy. You can plant the divided perennials into another area of the landscape or gift them to others. Divide violets, Shasta daisies, liriope, ajuga, mums, and other perennials.You can start planting colorful summer annuals. The options at the garden store this time of year can be overwhelming. Take time to plan where you want to plant annuals and be sure to take note of how much sunlight the area gets. That will make your trip to purchase plants less stressful. Extension Publication 1826, “Annuals & Perennial Flowers for Mississippi Gardens,” gives you a list of proven winners to plant.
- Lawns may be sodded at this time.
- Plant Gladiolus throughout this month for continuous bloom.
- Caladiums can be started in outdoor containers as soon as weather warms.
- Plant Hostas.
- Plant okra, melons, peas, corn, beans, eggplant, cucumbers, and tomatoes.
- Plant summer/fall blooming bulbs: callas, cannas, dahlias, gladiolus, and gloriosa lilies.
- Consider planting milkweed to bring all the butterflies to your yard! Monarch butterflies enjoy this plant, and there are several other native plants you can add to your landscape to attract these beautiful creatures. Check them all out here in this factsheet.
Fertilizing
- Fertilize vegetables when planting according to recommendations.
- Fertilize shrubs if not done in March.
- Top-dress Camellias with azalea-camellia fertilizer.
- Lime Peonies, Clematis, and Boxwoods.
Pest Control
- Spray new rose leaves for black spot weekly.
Pruning
- Prune azaleas and other spring-flowering shrubs after blooming. Sadly, the cold snap shortened or eliminated blooms of azaleas and camellias in my yard. Once the azaleas finish blooming, prune them back to encourage growth for next year. Now is also a great time to purchase azaleas to plant in your yard.
- Lightly shape any formal hedges to remove new growth.
Miscellaneous
- Paint and repair garden furniture and other hardscapes (bird baths, bird houses, mailbox, deck).
- There are many benefits to mulching the base of plants, like helping the soil hold moisture, regulating soil temperatures, and controlling weeds. Apply 2-3 inches of mulch to the base of plants. Check out, “Mulches for the Landscape,” (Publication 2301) for more information on the different types of mulches to use.
- Always mulch new plantings to help ensure success.
Blooming
- Encore azaleas, blueberries, fringe trees, blackberries, pyracanthas, hawthorns, pittosporums, Japanese snowballs, pieris, cliftonia, ginkgos, deutzia, sweetshrubs, sweetspires, cotoneasters, oakleaf hydrangeas, roses, spiraea, rhododendrons, and ninebarks.
- Ajuga, alyssum, bleeding-hearts, candytufts, columbines, daffodils, daisies, daylilies, forget-me-nots, grass pinks, irises, Jacob’s ladder, lilies-of-the-valley, pansies, phlox, primroses, ranunculus, shooting stars, sweet Williams, thrifts, tulips, vincas, violets.
Fruiting
- Maples, leatherleaf mahonias, chinese hollies, nandinas, (blueberries in South Mississippi).
The Lafayette County Master Gardener Association (LCMGA) is pleased to welcome the public to their Annual Spring Lecture Series which will be held in the Dotsy A. Fitts Auditorium of the Public Library on 401 Bramlett Boulevard. Parking is available at the library or across the street at the Oxford Skate Park. Our next speaker will be Jeff McManus, Director of Landscape Services at the University of Mississippi who will provide a lecture on “Pruning like a Pro” on May 11, 2023 at noon. This talk will help gardeners answer questions about pruning. What to prune? When to prune? Where to prune? Do I even need to prune? For more information or questions follow LCGMA on Instagram or Facebook, visit our website at http://www.lcmga.org/ or call the MSU Extension office at 662-234-4451.
You can find more garden related articles and videos on the MSU Extension website https://extension.msstate.edu.
