April Garden Tasks

We are getting close. The weather is warming up, the seeds you planted in January have turned into little green seedlings full of promise. It’s all so very exciting! I hate to be a buzzkill, but the weeds are starting to pop up now as well. Let’s discuss.

Weeds are inevitable but they are also an indicator of your soil health and composition. Huh? Yes, we must UNDERSTAND our weeds to grow a better garden. But that is a post for another day, we are talking about April gardening happenings! But before I move on, sharpen your hoe, it makes weeding so much easier. 

Begin sowing your seeds for warm weather crops indoors early this month. Beans, pumpkins, squashes, tomatoes and peppers, under lights or in a sunny location. These will not be set out until early June when they are a few inches high. 

Salad crops like lettuce, salad mixes, kale, collards can be planted now with row covers to protect them should we get snow or ice. Hold off on rocket or mustard greens, it’s still a bit early. Plant potatoes in the ground or in bags, just give them room to grow, don’t pack them in.

Pro tip: Unless you plan on having your neighbors over for a 5 course meal of salad greens in May, refrain from planting entire rows of greens at the same time. Succession planting, or planting short sections every few weeks, will give you fresh greens through the summer in a manageable quantity. This goes for cilantro too! A few seeds every few weeks as opposed to all at once. 

Feed your fruit trees and shrubs now with fish, blood and bone fertilizer. Look for it at your local garden center. Clear the weeds out around the base of your trees and shrubs and top dress the ground inside the drip line with a layer of compost.

Weather in Colorado can be erratic. Gardening in containers can really mitigate the weather because you can easily move the containers to take advantage of the sun or bring them indoors if needed. If your green thumb is getting itchy, look to your containers to keep you busy.