I love April. There is plenty to get ready for the summer, but we are not stuck there due to the cold. It is a perfect combination for gearing up and getting into shape for all the yardening activity that is coming.
Let's talk first about pinching seedlings and young plants. Most annuals will branch from one stalk to two when properly pinched. Do it a few times during the early growing season and a plant will become bushy and produce many more flowers. "Pinching back" works on all the plants that have symmetrical branching -- that is, leaves that oppose each other on exactly the opposite side of the stem.
Here is how you do it. Imagine you pinch off the top part of a small T, just above the horizontal bar. The next thing you know, a V appears in its place. If you let each branch of the V develop one or two sets of leaves, you can repeat the pinching process on each new branch.
Cosmos, coleus, fuchsias, dahlias and marigolds, to name a few annual flowers, respond to this treatment. So does cannabis, by the way. It is important to remember that this is an early season treatment, best started when plants are seedlings with only two to four real leaves. This is true of "symmetrical" seedlings you buy from nurseries this month.
You should already be pinching back sweet peas. These are not symmetrical, but the trick works on peas. You can try it on some of your other non-symmetrical seedlings, but sample first; don't do all, as it is not always so successful.
Finally, while each plant is different, it takes a fuchsia about five or six weeks to bloom from a pinched growing tip. Stop the pinching sometime in May to ensure ample time to flower.
Next, you don't need supplemental lights now, just a good southern window. So start some seeds, even it is a single sunflower seed. It is fun (and you know the rule: You have to plant at least one thing you grow from seed or you are not a real gardener). Cosmos, marigolds, dahlias and gladiolas are as easy as it comes when growing things.
On the outside side of things, it is time to clean up for real. Spring is here. Start with all the detritus that flowed out of the weekly refuse, yours or a neighbors, as you don't want to cut this stuff up with a mower. It is too messy. Also pick up anything that would be dangerous or too big to run over with a mower.
If the lawn is dry you can then mulch up everything with a mower: twigs, sticks, leaves, dead grass. Just go for it and don't pick it up. This is terrific microbe food and everything in your yard will do better for it. No mower? Borrow or rent one. Mower not working? Time to get it in order.
Some have already done it, but if you haven't, get out there and gently remove the mulch you put on your perennial beds last summer and fall and, if you are so inclined, around your young trees and newer shrubs. Normally, I don't think I would tell you do this so early as there is always a risk of snow and continued hard frosts. This year's weather has me scratching my head, however. I know it is early. I know it might snow again. I also know we are not going to have below-zero weather for a while. Do it.
This is mulch you will want to return to the beds once they warm up. Don't take it too far away. It won't hurt the lawn if the mulch sits there for a week or so. Do be careful not to hurt any emerging growth and make sure you don't dislodge any labels.
Finally, in case you wanted to: no thatching, as it is too early to tell if your lawn needs it. No rototilling, either, as it is counterproductive and will actually reduce the ability of your soils to perform. Besides, you should stay off of wet soils.
So, start getting a cadence ... we are gardening and yardening again!
Jeffs Alaska Garden Calendar
Graft an apple: Saturday, April 11 at 1 p.m. Alaska Pioneer Fruit Growers Association is having its annual grafting workshop at Dimond Greenhouses. This is always a terrific event for newbies. You get to take home a grafted apple tree! Do it!
Lilies: If you have been growing yours indoors, take them outdoors and keep them there until planted. Use a nice, wind-protected area in the shade.
Flowers to start from seed: Brachycomes, Dianthus, stock, lock spar, asters, nicotiana, cleome, iceplant, zinnia, salpiglossis, schizanthus, nigella, phlox, portulaca, nemesia, marigold and nasturtiums
Vegetables: Broccoli, kale, cabbage and cauliflower
Gladioli: What are you waiting for?
Nurseries: Don't wait. You should be buying plants and supplies. They can be hardened off when the birch tree leaves are the size of a squirrel's ear.
Have an announcement? Send me announcements at least two weeks in advance of the event.