Grow Your Garden
Do you have a question for the team that designs, plants and maintains our high quality parks and gardens throughout Clayton? Send your questions to Susan Renard, Superintendent of Parks at srenard@ci.clayton.mo.us. ,who can answer tree, flower and lawncare questions. We will keep you informed of the latest trends in gardening and sustainable landscapes through photos and articles. We look forward to hearing from you.
April Gardening Calendar
Ornamentals
- Weeks 1-4: Study your landscape for gaps that could be nicely filled with bulbs. Mark these spots carefully and make a note to order bulbs next August.
- Weeks 1-3: Fertilize established roses once new growth is 2 inches long. Use a balanced formulation. Begin spraying to control black spot disease.
- Weeks 1-2: Examine shrubs for winter injury. Prune all dead and weakened wood.
- Week 1: Shrubs and trees best planted or transplanted in spring, rather than fall include butterfly bush, dogwood, Rose of Sharon, Black gum (Nyssa), vitex, red bud, magnolia, tulip poplar, birch, ginkgo, hawthorn and most oaks.
Lawns
- Weeks 1-4: Start mowing cool season grasses at recommended heights.
- Weeks 1-2: Topdress low spots and finish over seeding thin or bare patches.
- Weeks 1-2: Aerate turf if thatch is heavy or if soil is compacted.
- Weeks 1-2: Apply crabgrass preventers before April 15. Do not apply to areas that will be seeded.
Vegetables
- Weeks 1-3: Finish transplanting broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, and cauliflower plants into the garden. High phosphorous fertilizers help get transplants off to a quick start.
- Weeks 1-2: Plants started indoors should be hardened off outdoors in cold frames before being transplanted into the garden.
- Weeks 1-2: Start cucumber, cantaloupe, summer squash, and watermelon seeds indoors in peat pots.
- Weeks 1-2: Asparagus and rhubarb harvests begin.
- Weeks 2-4: Try an early sowing of warm-season crops such as green beans, summer squash, sweet corn, New Zealand spinach and cucumbers.
- Weeks 2-3: Thin out crowded seedlings from early plantings of cool season crops such as beets, carrots, lettuce, onions and radish.
Fruits
- Weeks 1-4: Blemish-free fruits unmarred by insect or disease injury can rarely be produced without relying on regular applications of insecticides and fungicides For special information, consult University Extension Guide Sheet #G6010, Home Fruit Spray Schedule.
- Weeks 1-2: Wooden clothespins make useful spreaders for training young fruits limbs. Place pins between the trunk and branch to force limbs outward at a 60 degree angle from the trunk.
- Weeks 2-4: Protect bees and other pollinating insects. Do not spray insecticides on fruit trees that are blooming.
- Weeks 3-4: Orange, jelly-like galls on cedar trees spread rust diseases to apples, crabapples and hawthorns.
Miscellaneous
- Week 1: Mount a rain gauge on a post near the garden to keep track of precipitation so you can tell when to water. Most gardens need about 1 inch of rain per week between April and September.
- Week 4: Soaker hoses and drip irrigation systems help you save water and money.
- Week 4: Hummingbirds return from their winter home in Central America.
- Week 4: Wasp and hornet queens begin nesting.
Gardening Calendar supplied by the staff of the William T. Kemper Center for Home Gardening located at the Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis, Missouri. (www.GardeningHelp.org)
Storm Water Pollution
When it rains, oil, antifreeze, detergents, pesticides and other pollutants get washed from driveways, backyards, parking lots, and streets into storm drains and then ultimately into streams and rivers. Here are some simple steps you can take to make a big impact on our water quality:
- Clean up after your pet. Pet waste left on the ground gets carried away by storm water, contributing harmful bacteria, parasites and viruses to our rivers.
- Properly dispose of vehicle fluids such as oil, gas, and antifreeze. They are the #1 cause of surface water quality problems nationwide.
- Do not overwater lawns or hose off pavements. Water from pavements washes pollutants into storm drains leading to the rivers.
- Keep your neighborhood and streets clean. Street litter such as styrofoam, plastic, and paper can be prevented from washing and blowing into inlets by not littering and keeping trash bins covered.
To illustrate how you can help, Sacramento County, California created this fun and simple game: http://www.sactostormwater.org/SSQP/game/default.asp
