Get your garden spring-ready with these April gardening tips from the landscape and horticulture specialists at USU Extension. For more tips, visit Utah State University Gardeners’ Almanac Monthly Gardening Checklists.
- Plant seeds of cool-season vegetables (peas, lettuce, spinach, radishes) as soon as garden soil is workable.
- Control young garden weeds by hoeing or hand-pulling.
- Protect fruit blossoms and tender garden plants from late critical freezing temperatures.
- If storing bulbs, check to make sure they are firm, and remove any that are soft or rotten.
- Wait to prune roses until buds begin to swell to avoid late-frost damage to new growth.
- Prune spring flowering shrubs (those that bloom before June) after they have bloomed to encourage new flower buds for next season.
- Divide crowded, fall-blooming perennials.
- Divide cool-season ornamental grasses when new growth begins to emerge.
- Use organic mulches (wood chips or bark) to retain soil moisture around shrubs and trees.
- In compacted sites, aerate with a hollow core aerator when turfgrass is actively growing, usually from April to June.
- Apply pre-emergent herbicides in late March to mid-April to control annual weeds in the lawn, such as crabgrass.
- Check your sprinkler system for leaks. Clean filters, and fix and align heads.
Save this April Garden Checklist graphic to check off each task in your own garden:
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