VEGETABLE GARDEN
- Plant potatoes if not done earlier.
- Till the garden when soil is like brown sugar, not mud ball wet or powdery dry.
- Add soil amendments such as commercial or organic fertilizers, gypsum, compost, sand,
etc. Don’t apply fresh manures in spring.
- General garden fertilizer recommendations: 10 lbs. of 15-30-15 per 1,000 square feet,
or 30 lbs. of 5-10-5 per 1,000 square feet. This application will last about one month
and then you will then need to follow up with side dressing or a foliage applied water
soluble fertilizer.
- If you have problems with your garden soil, have a soil test done.
- If insects were a problem, incorporate DIAZINON insecticide to eliminate overwintering
insects.
- Start vegetable transplants: April 1 - tomato, pepper and eggplant, if not done previously.
Mid-April - cucumber, muskmelon, squash and watermelon. April 24 - hardened or conditioned
cool-season transplants, and seeds of very hardy vegetables. If you don’t know these,
request “Planting Dates” from the Extension Office.
- Cover newly seeded root crop rows with gunny sacks to speed up germination.
- Sweet onions. Good for the north zone - sweet Spanish and sweet sandwich.
- If you buy transplants from a garden center, take two weeks in the cold frame to condition
them to the outdoors before planting, unless they are outdoors at the store.
- Rotate vegetables to different areas of the garden to keep pests down.
- If severe cold weather returns be prepared to protect plants from killing frosts.
- Plant asparagus and rhubarb plants.
- Harvest asparagus spears when they get 9” tall, which keeps beds 50% more
ORCHARD AND FRUITS
- Plant new raspberries, prune old ones.
- Plant fruit trees and strawberries.
- Prune out fire blight in apples and pears.
- Spray apples and pears with streptomycin when blooms first open, repeat every 4-5
days till ¾ of petals drop.
- Apply dormant oil to fruit trees if not done last month, but prior to bud swelling.
TREES AND SHRUBS
- In early April, apply dormant oil spray to evergreens when freezing temperatures are
not expected for 24 - 48 hours.
- Apply dormant oil to deciduous trees if not done last month.
- Remove tree wraps.
- Before lush growth appears, you can see where new trees or shrubs may be desirable.
- As soon as ground thaws, plant or transplant trees and shrubs.
- ARBOR DAY, the last Friday of April. Start a great tradition...plant a tree.
- If trees need fertilizer, apply as soon as possible, so it reaches the root system
by the time the leaves break buds.
- Finish up heavy tree and shrub pruning by the end of April. Pruning is simpler before
trees and shrubs leaf out.
LAWN
- Mid April apply pre-emergent weed control for annual grass weeds such as crabgrass.
- You can fertilize the lawn the first part of April if you want to. General lawn fertilizer
recommendations: 6-7 lbs. of 24-4-4 per 1,000 square feet of lawn. Extension Horticulture
Specialist Bob Gough, recommends fertilizing around these holidays: Memorial Day,
Labor Day and Columbus Day.
- If power raking is needed, do before grass greens up a lot, to prevent excessive damage.
Consider aerating if too green.
- Reseed bare patches, or seed a new lawn.
- Make certain your mower is serviced and ready to go, with sharp blades that cut cleanly
rather than tearing tender new growth.
FLOWER GARDEN
- In late April plant tender summer bulbs outdoors, such as Dahlia, Gladiolus, Canna,
Tuberous Begonia, Tender Anemone and Ranunculus.
- To kill overwintering thrips on glad bulbs, soak in 1 Tab. Lysol to 2 qts water ½
hour before planting.
- Pansies make an excellent ground cover for bulb beds.
- Remove mulch or other winter protection. If you’ve mounded soil over rose crowns,
remove before new buds grow too much. They are easily knocked off.
- Cut back dead canes on T-roses.
- Start annual flower transplants: April 1 - sow impatiens seed, but don’t cover with
soil, as the seeds need light to germinate. Cover with plastic till germinated. April
1 - petunia, pansy, salvia, snapdragon and moss rose. April 15 - ageratum, larkspur,
annual phlox, alyssum, marigold, stocks and zinnia.
- Ideal time to plant, divide, or transplant perennial flowers.
HOUSEPLANTS
- After your Easter Lily is finished blooming, plant it in the flower garden. Often
these plants will bloom again in August.
- During April, let the soil of your poinsettia become drier than normal. Your plant
will lose some of its leaves, but not enough that the stems wither.
Yellowstone County Extension
301 N 27th St. #330
Billings, MT 59101
Phone - 406-256-2828
Fax - 406-256-2825
County Agents:
Roni Baker - 4-H/Youth Development
Francisco Gamboa - Agriculture
Sara Fluer - Family/Consumer Sciences
Anthony Sammartano - Horticulture
Specialized Staff:
Stephanie Johnson - 4-H Program Assistant
Administrative Support Staff:
Brandy Butler
Leslie Idstrom