• Plant summer flowering bulbs

April is the month for green gardeners to plant flowering bulbs such as dahlias, gladiolas and lilies. If the danger of frost has past, it is safe to plant your Tuberous Begonias and Cannas as well.

• Spring Clean Your House Plants

Green gardening can take place inside as well! Keeping your indoor plants clean will retain their beauty and will help them fight off diseases. Remove any spent flowers, dead leaves or branches along with any yellowing leaves. Rinse the leaves off with some water to remove dust. Clean leaves help the plant breathe!

• It’s veggie time!

  A lot of vegetables can be planted during April, including (but not limited to):

  • Asparagus
  • Rhubarb
  • Horseradish
  • Peas
  • Carrots
  • Beets
  • Spinach
  • Cauliflower

Warmer weather crops such as tomatoes, cucumbers and squash and peppers need to wait until next month before adding them to your organic garden.

• Celebrate Arbor Day

Arbor Day is April 29th, so plant a tree or take care of the ones you already have. April is a great time to prune evergreens, plant a fruit tree in your yard and is just one more excuse to spend your day with organic gardening instead of watching TV.

This is an exciting part of the year for green gardening. Taking these steps will assure a great start to this year’s gardening efforts. You’ll be harvesting vegetables, pruning flowers and weeding before you know it!

Veggie gardens are not only great for a green living lifestyle (growing your own food prevents pesticides and other harmful chemicals from entering your body) but is a great money saver. The work outside also provides a healthy yet calming physical activity to stay healthy through your golden years.

This early spring time is when you want to make sure to do a couple of things:

• Dig
• Weed
• Seed
• Prepare

Unfortunately, there’s no catchy acronym for this mantra, but dig, weed, seed and prepare should be going through your head during the warming month of April as you prepare your vegetable garden.

Remember: wherever you plan on placing your vegetable garden needs to have at least 6 hours of direct sunlight each day.

Dig

Clean up the winter gook from the area you’ve chosen for your garden and dig up the hardened earth to make the planting easier. Create a boundary around your garden so no one steps into the fresh soil, and add a few cups of wood ash and bone meal and a bag of powdered limestone on top of the soil before you begin digging so the tossing can turn in the nutrients.

Weed

Weeding is considered the most important part of an early spring clean up. Rip out those winter weeds like henbit, chickweed, bluegrass and hair bittercress. To make sure you are using an organic gardening approach to wedding simply pull or cut the weeds with a sharp hoe; no pesticide killers needed.

Seed

After laying down a nice layer of mulch (or straw, whichever you prefer), it is time to seed! Early spring is a crucial time for cool-season vegetables and plant transplants. Transplants refer to any plant that began blooming in the winter and need to be transferred to an outside garden. Some of these plants that can be seeded outdoors now include: onions, salad greens, peas, radish and collards.

Remember: warm-weathers plants like eggplant, tomatoes, basil and okra can be seeded in indoor planters and put under lights. These should not be transferred to the outside until early May.

Prepare

Prepare a spot in the rest of your garden for all the warm-weathered plants, like those mentioned above. You can also add an area for herbs like sweet bay, rosemary and Spanish lavender can be planted now, although sweet basil should only be started now if you are planting it indoors.

Scientists at São Paulo State University in Brazil and their colleagues wanted to see if banana peels could also act as water purifiers. This material already has a surprising number of potential uses, including polishing items like silver and leather shoes.

The researchers found that minced banana peel performed as well or better at removing copper and lead than many other filtering materials, quickly removing both from water in the Paraná River in Brazil.

They noted that a purifier made of layers of minced banana peel could be used up to 11 times without losing its metal-snagging properties. Synthetic materials can be reused more times, but natural materials are dramatically cheaper and do not require chemical processing to work.

The scientists detailed their findings online Feb. 16 in the journal Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research.

This story originally published in: LiveScience.com

• Water a stirring Garden
  • Your plants are waking up, just as you are! Give them some nourishment and water your sturring spring plants, especially if the ground is dry. Especially take care to water plant beds before laying any mulch. You can also take this opportunity to gently hose off aphids from tulips, panisies, roses, lettuce, peas and honeysuckle.
• Cut back Liriope
  • Cut back last year’s foliage on liriope before the new shoots emerge from the center of the clump. The best way to do this is by using sharp hedge shears. Finish this process by pruning the grass and perennials old growth as well.
• Begin cuttings indoors
  • Chop those lose branches of plants like quince, forsythia, Japanese flowering cherry, redbud, and crab apple for forcing indoors. Make sure they stay hydrated and keep the water clean (refresh when the water becomes cloudy).
• Preseason pruning of roses
  • Pruning roses is necessary, but without proper protection can be dangerous! Make sure you have a thick pair of gloves in addition to your sharp pruners and cut about a half inch above an outward-facing bud. Don’t forget to remove the weak or dead branches, and any that are rubbing. To finish up, remove all the fallen rose leaves from the ground around the plants.

Spray for Pests

Using an oil spray is a great green living way of tending your garden while also staying environmentally savvy. Not only are oil sprays organic, but when used during the winter help get rid of pests like mites, scale and lacebug. Keep in mind, however, that oil spray should only be used on plants like roses, fruit trees and other ornamentals and could cause damage if sprayed on conifers and evergreens.

Prune Lenten Roses

Lenten roses should be about to blossom and need pruning to make their growth abundant. Prune old leaf stalks and anything else from last year’s growth. Be wary of the new stalks and be careful you do not injure them in the pruning process.

Clean Garden Beds

This is pretty basic – rake, cut, prune, clean, plant, scrape away and be careful when cleaning garden beds in soft soil.

Start Cool Season Seeds

Although cool season plants are harvested in April, you can get a head start by planting them inside now. Some of the best plants to do this with are lettuce, celeriac, spinach, arugula, onions and leeks.

If you’re upset that nothing is popping up in the lawn other than a blanket of snow plant these plants and see them blossom in February!

• Witch Hazel
• Crocus
• Snowdrops

The following are your green gardening tips for the month of January:

1. Care for your houseplants
   1. This means keeping your indoor plants away from drafty windows and heaters. Group plants together and mist them occasionally to keep from webs forming and mites attaching themselves to leaves.
2. Protect Boxwoods from snow
   1. Net together large clumps of English boxwood with black nylon or string to avoid any snow damage. You want to tie the plant tight enough so they do not splay or split during a snow storm.
3. Keep emerging bulb stems clear
   1. It may seem early, but flower stems do appear in January – daffodils especially. Make sure the stems are not covered with mulch or soil.
4. Remove winter weeds
   1. In particular, you need to use a sharp hoe and really tackle weeds like chickweed and henbit before they grow any bigger. If you don’t get them now, they might flower and seed later in the winter and effect the growth of flowers in the spring.
5. Plan a strawberry bed and order strawberries
   1. January is the perfect time to scout out the perfect ground for a strawberry garden! Strawberries can be overpowering, which is why they grow best in their own bed. Make sure the soil is good and the location gets lots of sun! Once you find the perfect home, order the strawberries!

Don’t forget to look for the following flowers blooming in January!

• Hellebores
• Wintersweet
• Mahonia Bealei

As you might have guessed, there’s no planting this month! You don’t need to worry about buying the bulbs for the spring either… hopefully you’ve already done that! Here are the few things you need to do to make your organic garden its healthiest as the colder months begin.

• Clean and store clay pots

o   Those gorgeous clay pots that house some of your most prized possessions sitting next to your front door need to be cleaned and stored for the spring! Make sure you store the pots in a dry area so the clay doesn’t crack. Also, save the soil from the used plants to help with making a compost bin (see below). Remember to clean using only organic cleaners to help prevent next year’s plants with being infected with bleach or insecticides.

• Humidify houseplants

o   As stated in Octobers Monthly Gardening Tips, bring your plants inside to keep them in a warmer climate. Make sure they have enough humidity; if your home does not have a central humidifying system, purchase a portable one!

• Upturn concrete planters

o   This will prevent ice from forming in the colder months, as well as prevent cracking.

• Clean and bag fallen leaves

o   They might be pretty lying sporadically along your garden, but they are killing everything they cover. For those plants that wilt that are susceptible to fungus, like lilacs, peonies, roses and black-eyed susans this is extremely important so no fungal diseases occur.

• Build a compost bin

o   Make good use of your gardening scraps, and be good to the environment! Create a compost bin using chicken wire and metal stakes. Throw the fall leaves and plant waste in there, chopped up, for winter composting as the cold season progresses.

Look for these plants that bloom in November!

• Cherry Trees
• C. Japonica Camellia
• Stembergia Bulbs

• Initiate Clivia Winter Flowering

o   Leave plants outside in a sheltered location until bringing it in before the first frost. Withhold watering and giving any type of nutrients for 6-8 weeks. This encourages the winter flowering of Clivia houseplants.

• Clean and Sterilize Tools

o   This might be an off green gardening tip, but to prevent fungal and bacterias from forming and spreading diseases next spring, take time to clean and sterilize your tools, stakes, cages, etc.

• Plant spring bulbs

o   We told you to buy the spring bulbs in September’s gardening tips, now plant them! Most spring bulbs can actually be planted until December, but getting a head start is always recommended.

• Harvest sweet basil

o   Make sure to do this before the first frost hits! If you don’t, your basil will be destroyed. Keep in mind that the stalks will root in jars of water and a few grains of charcoal.

• Prepare a Christmas Cactus

o   Keeping a cactus in a cooler room (nighttime temperature being around 50 degrees) will help form the initial buds. Once it blooms, keep the plant in a room with indirect sunlight.

• Set aside a winter plant room

o   Not only will this help preserve your plants, but it also helps preserve your wallet! Keep the heat down in one room of the house to keep your winter houseplants. Stay away from fertilizing and over watering, and remember that plants flourish with plenty of light! Group pots to raise humidity and keep plants away from heat registers.

• Rake, blow or mow leaves

o   Although a yearly pain, leaving the leaves on your grass could actually injure the growth of healthy grass if they mat down. Also, keeping leaves out of flower beds will prevent crown rot. Try to come up with fun activities with your family, or pay your grandchildren to rake up the leaves then have jumping contests into the piles!

• Start Amaryllius, Narcissus bulbs

o   If you want to have one of the only gardens with shoots in your garden come Christmas time, start planting amaryllius and paperwhite narcissus bulbs in early to mid October. Remember, only water sparingly until the shoots actually immerge.

1. Spray lawn weed killer
   1. If you are reseeding late this month, spraying the lawn now will permit the seeding then by killing grasses and broadleaf weeds. Make sure the weed killer doesn’t have pesticides or other harmful materials.
2. Renovate the lawn
   1. Exposing the lawn and enough soil will make overseeing more successful; for the best results use a conventional rake.
3. In drought, hold off on lawns
   1. Do not apply fertilizer or weed killer to lawns that have been going through a drought until the drought has ended. You will also want to wait on seeding or sod laying until there is more moisture and wetness in the ground.
4. Order colchicums
   1. Order these in fast delivery and plant these fall bloomers as soon as they arrive!
5. Order garlic
   1. Keeping a stock of garlic for fall planting now saves the hassle and bustle of the swarm of people who will be buying garlic later in the fall.
6. Sow spinach, chard and arugula
   1. Whether you’re looking for an early fall harvest or a late overwintering spring crop, September is the perfect month to plant these items.
7. Plant fall annuals
   1. Refresh your dying summer flowers with fall filler plants like aster, pansies and heleniums.
8. Buy and plant spring bulbs
   1. Planting spring bulbs now, while they’re still healthy and fresh, will help the plants grow healthy roots and stay until the spring.
9. Build a compost bin
   1. Make leaf collecting and garden clean- up easy with an already created compost bin. To read more about how to make compost bins, click here.
10. Clean out fading beds
    1. Fading leaves, flower stalks and seedheads of perennial plants all need to be cleaned out for the fall months. Doing it now will help reduce the work that will come in November.
11. Check houseplant roots

• Repot plants that have outgrown their pots and make sure roots of house plants summered outdoors have not become potbound.

Don’t forget to look for these flowers blooming in your green garden this month:

• Rose of Sharon
• Sweet Autumn Clematis
• Sedum

• Ignore the Foul Mold
  • When you have recently laid mulch on your garden beds, it is normal for certain slime mold to develop. It will have a bright yellow mass that eventually changes to pale gray spores. Although the look of it might be unsavory, the actual mold is not harmful to your plants. In fact, once it hits the gray stage, if disturbed will erupt in a cloud and layer your plants with a layer of dust.

• Order Spring Bulbs
  • Ordering spring bulbs now shows your true expertise as a green gardener because it will allow you to take your pick on any selection of bulbs you want for fall delivery.

• Cut back Perennials
  • Cut them back only if they have already bloomed! This encourages a second flowering, as well as a tidy, compacted re-growth of the leaves. Coneflowers, catmint, early season salvias, daisies and lamb’s ears are all perennials that should be hedged.

• Conduct a Lawn Soil Test
  • You can also test the soil in September, as long as it is before the traditional fall renovations of your green garden. The lawn soil tests will tell you how much fertilizer and liming your lawn needs, as well as gives you the nutrient levels, pH and organic matter.

• Freshen the Garden
  • This is a general to-do that you should do every few months anyway. Specific clean-up tasks to do in August include cutting back the spent perennials, wedding beds, trimming leggy annuals and laying new mulch.

• Check Tomato Plants before Leaving
  • If your plans for a family vacation are finally developing, make sure to check your tomato plants for ripening fruit before you leave. Tomatoes that are just starting to redden can actually ripen in any sunny area; bring them with you in a long car ride and put them on the dashboard! If you aren’t going to be traveling in a sunny place, offer them to friends or family members.

• Pull up Crabgrass
  • Make sure you keep an eye out for crabgrass and pull up the clumps before the seeds ripen. For stubborn clumps, dampen the soil around the crabgrass the night before, then use a sharp knife or hoe to dig it out – otherwise pull it up by hand.