April Garden Planning

April Garden Checklist

April 3, 2023
Adams Fairacre Farms

April is here and the temperture, and ground, are starting to warm up. This is an exciting month for gardeners, as we edge ever closer to frost-free days. It’s time to prioritize our indoor sowing, get early cool-loving crops in the ground and begin some light tidying around the garden. Review the gardening checklist below to stay on top of this month’s important to-dos.

Take Care of the Soil

This month, the top layer of soil is much more workable, and it’s a good time to add compost ahead of your direct sowings. But, until it’s time to plant, keep beds covered with leaves, mulch, or cardboard; this will benefit earthworms, microorganisms and fungi to create a more hospitable environment for young plant roots.

Avoid compressing mucky garden soil when possible. If you need to walk in your garden beds on a wet day, lay down a piece of plywood to walk on. Consider installing pavers or stepping stones for high traffic areas.

Another way to protect the soil is to spring-sow cover crops. White clover, hairy vetch, buckwheat, oats or a combination of oats and field peas can all be sown in the springtime to suppress weeds, add nitrogen and improve tilth for the growing season.

By now your compost pile should be thawed out and ready for some TLC. If your kitchen scraps have built up over the winter, you’ll want to add carbon-rich materials like leaves, pine needles and cardboard to help restore the balance. Aim for a ratio of 3 parts carbon-rich “browns” to 1 part nitrogen-rich “greens” (kitchen scraps and grass clippings). Give the pile a good turn and keep an eye on the moisture levels as the season unfolds. Compost should be about as moist as a wrung-out sponge. This means adding water during dry weather or covering your pile with a tarp when you expect a week of rain.

Clean Up, Slowly

No need to go crazy cleaning up the garden right away. In fact, it’s better for pollinators and other beneficial insects if you take a slow approach. For those of us in northern climes, the Xerces Society suggests waiting until mid- to late April for cutting back perennials and clearing garden debris. Once the apple trees are done blooming, most of the pollinators have emerged and it’s safe to clear debris.

Speaking of wildlife, make sure your birdhouses are cleaned out and ready for new spring inhabitants.

Another essential cleaning task is to sanitize your planting containers. Disinfect containers in a 1:9 solution of one part bleach to nine parts water for at least ten minutes. Use a bristle brush to scrub mineral deposits and soil debris, rinse and allow to dry. Don’t neglect this step; otherwise, plant diseases can spread and undermine all of your hard work.

Sow Seeds

Seed starting tender vegetables can now begin in earnest, either indoors under lights or outdoors in a cold frame. You may have already sown a few rows of peas, spinach, arugula and radishes. If not, now’s the time.

Brassicas
It’s prime time for indoor sowings of kale, collards, cabbages, kohlrabi and broccoli. If direct sowing outdoors, use row cover to protect these varieties from insect pests and sudden dips in temperature. Brassicas are all adaptable crops that can be started any time from now until mid-July, providing healthy greens for the table from May until December.

Salad Greens
Lettuce and many herbs for fresh salads–parsley, cilantro, chervil–can be sown now under protection. Direct sow spinach and arugula without protection; both love the cold.

Peas
Get peas in by the first or second week of April. Soak them overnight, inoculate and sow 1-2 inches below the soil surface. Peas need something to climb so add trellis netting, chicken wire or stakes with twine.

Roots
Radishes are quick and easy crops that thrive in cool weather. Succession sow radishes every two weeks and don’t forget to sauté the delicious greens. Carrots can be direct-sown mid-April.

Tomatoes
Start tomatoes anytime from now until late April. The earlier you sow ’em, the earlier you’ll reap your tomato bounty. That said, tomatoes started earlier require more coddling. If you use a cold frame, they must be amply protected from frosty nights (by bringing them inside or covering the cold frame with a blanket when temps dip into the low- to mid-twenties). If you start them indoors, make sure they get sufficient light.

Peppers and Eggplants
Both plants can be started from now until mid-April or so, but if you much prefer ripe peppers to green ones, start early–it ensures the largest number of red (or orange or purple) peppers before frost. Peppers and eggplants need good heat and plenty of time to germinate. Start them indoors in your warmest spot, and be patient. Put a tray full of sown peppers in a plastic bag to keep the environment moist until germination takes place. Once a few seedlings emerge, get them out of the bag quickly to prevent damping off.

Flowers
Plenty of flowers can be sown this month. Indoors, start blue sage, dyer’s coreopsis, munstead lavender, moonstone aster, sweet william dianthus and so many more. Or, skip the grow lamps and direct sow these cold-tolerant seeds: Sweet peas, spider flower, morning glory, moon flower, johnny jump ups, pansies, chamomile, calendula, marigold and borage.

Information courtesy of HudsonValleySeed.com