What Are April Garden Tasks?
It's Grow Time!
April throws open the garden gates, inviting warmer temperatures, hours of added sunlight, and cozy soil temperatures to coax every plant back into joyful growth. The entire month of April is celebrated as National Gardening Month.
It's Grow Time!
Plant warm-season veggie starts: tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, cucumbers, squash, pumpkins, and melons. You can also direct sow veggie seeds: beans, corn, beets, and carrots. Mulch tomato plants heavily to prepare for the heat!
Plant A Tree
April is the time to dream big: plant new trees and shrubs, remove unneeded tree stakes from trees planted last year, and celebrate Arbor Day (the last Friday of the month on April 24th) by adding an additional tree to your garden.
Soil Health
Strengthen your soil defense system: enrich beds with compost or worm castings and apply a 2”-3” mulch layer to save water, cool and warm roots naturally, and reduce weed growth.
Vining & Twining
April is the perfect time to plant vines in North Texas. As many begin to bloom this month, explore the wide selection of vines with stunning flowers ready to climb and shine.
Irrigation Check-In
Give your irrigation system a spring check‑up: fix leaks, clear emitters, and adjust schedules so plants are watered deeply to encourage strong roots, then allowed to dry slightly between waterings as lawns and beds shift into spring mode.
Fire Ant Prevention
Spot and treat red ant mounds in April using baits to stop colonies before they peak in warm weather.
Other Timely Tasks for April
- Brighten the garden by planting summer annuals like marigolds, coleus, vinca, impatiens, petunias, and celosia—keeping an eye on sun exposure. April’s warm soil and sunny days help them settle in quickly and put on an early show of color. Direct sow seeds like zinnias and cosmos. Don’t forget to use a good organic starter fertilizer!
- Feed roses with an organic, slow-release fertilizer like Espoma Organic® Rose-tone® and keep spring bloomers flowering strong by deadheading spent blooms for fresh new blooms.
- Plant heat‑loving herbs like basil and lemongrass that thrive as Texas temperatures rise, and keep harvesting cool‑season favorites like lettuce and radishes before they bolt.
- Keep an eye out for garden pests like aphids, and invite nature’s helpers by planting pollinator-friendly flowers such as pincushion flower, coneflower, and lantana.
- Build a better lawn: fertilize for root growth, mow at 3” or higher, and spot-seed bare areas as spring warmth settles in for cool-season grasses like fescue. Next month is the time to seed warm-season grasses like Bermuda.
- After the blooms fade, give acid lovers some love. Prune spring‑flowering shrubs like azaleas, rhododendrons, and camellias, and follow up with their first feeding of acid food like Espoma Organic® Azalea-tone®.
