April is here and with a new month and temperatures warming new garden tasks present themselves! Here is a garden chore list for April in zone 7. If you are in a different zone these items would be offset by a couple weeks.
April Garden To Do List
- Continue sowing seeds indoors for summer crops of vegetables and flowers. It’s too early to direct sow outdoors anything that isn’t tolerant of frost.
- Direct sow your spring greens in the garden. Lettuce, kale, cabbage, and other spring vegetables can be direct sown in the garden for spring harvests.
- Prep new garden beds. Get a place ready for all those tomato and pepper plants you are growing indoors. In a few weeks they will need a home.
- Prune spring flowering trees and plants. Many trees flower on old growth and pruning after blooming in spring will allow them to produce new buds over the growing season.
- Prune hedging evergreens after all danger of frost has past. If you prune before frosts new growth will emerge and could be damaged by a frost. If you wait until after you can prune off any damaged growth and you will have a happier plant over all.
- Plant Summer Bulbs. After the last frost date plant summer bulbs in the garden.
- Transplant hostas. Since hostas emerge with tightly wound spears they are easy to divide and transplant. In fact the time when they first emerge is the best time to dig and divide hostas.
- Pay attention to frost warnings! If tender plants have already emerged and leafed out you may need to cover them when the weather turns cold overnight. Keep an eye on the weather!
- Upsize your tomato seedlings. Since you can’t plant tomatoes outdoors yet consider up sizing them into larger pots to grow stronger root systems.
- Collect grass clippings. Grass clippings are an excellent resource for your vegetable garden and for compost creation. The early spring grasses have less of a chance of having weed seeds in them which makes this time of year good for gathering grass clippings. Grass clippings are also an excellent way to start a new garden bed by providing organic matter to enrich the soil.
- Continue Regular Weeding. Patrol your gardens often and pick any weeds you see. Regular weeding minimizes the work overall since you catch the weeds when they are much smaller.
- Plant Potatoes. April is a good time to plant potatoes in the garden. There are several methods to use for this including grow bags, in the ground, or containers. Pick whichever method suits you best. Potatoes are very easy plants to grow so plant some seed potatoes and harvest later in the summer after the foliage has yellowed.
- Top Dress with Compost. Compost is an amazing additive to the garden so consider using it as a mulch and top dressing your vegetable garden plants. It adds beneficial nutrients, microbes, and loosens the soil for better nutrient access.
There are many other things you can do in the April Garden but it’s important this month in Zone 7 to continue to watch the weather for frosts. The last frost date determines when it is safe to plant your tender plants outdoors again! For my garden the safe date is considered to be April 15th (southern Middle TN) but that is only a guideline and frosts can occur after that date. A wise strategy for planting your summer plants would be to wait until the beginning of May. By that point all danger of frosts “should” have passed!
