What to Plant

Ornamental and Wildlife:

• Annuals: seed or transplant zinnias, cosmos, sunflowers, Mexican sunflower—all good wildlife annuals. Transplant: Salvia coccineas, a native that butterflies and bees just love. Avoid planting caladiums.

• Succulents (agave, yucca, other succulents)

• Perennials & vines

• Esperanza (Tecoma stans)

• Ornamental (clumping) grasses like muhly and

• Mexican feather grass

• Shrubs

• Clean up and replant containers—annuals, perennials, herbs, hibiscus, vegetables in larger containers

• Top new containers with light layer of mulch to conserve water; use decomposed granite, pea gravel or other grit for potted succulents

• Trees - if you keep them watered!  Deeply to at least 3 inches. Don’t water if soil is moist to 3 inches.

Herbs:

• Basil, catnip/catmint, comfrey, fennel, horseradish, feverfew, oregano, thyme, rosemary, Mexican mint marigold, peppermint, lemongrass, lemon balm, lemon verbena, bay laurel

Food Crops:

• Chard, corn, cucumber, eggplant, endive, Malabar spinach, mustard, peppers, pumpkin, summer & winter squash, tomatillos (you need at least two!), tomatoes, beans, cantaloupe

What to Prune

• Trees: DO NOT prune red oaks and live oaks unless damaged. Spray immediately with clear varnish.

• No need to apply pruning paint to other trees

• Dead head flowering plants

• Prune spring bulbs only when foliage is brown

• Bougainvilleas if not already pruned for overwintering

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Move/Divide

• Succulents

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Fertilize

• Lawns. Use an 8-2-4 or other similar ratio. Do not use Weed and Feed products!

• Add compost to beds if not already. Mulch as you cut back dormant perennials. Fertilize with slow-release granular late in the month or as dormant perennials leaf out

• Add compost around trees and fertilize. Be sure to dig out grass several feet from the trunk, ideally to the drip line of the tree canopy.

• Citrus with high nitrogen fertilizer like Citrus-tone. Fertilize every few weeks through growing season.

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Lawn

• Plant new lawn. Keep watered until established

• Mow weeds before they set seed

• Fertilize with an 8-2-4 or other similar ratio. Do not use Weed and Feed products!

• Mow to keep weeds from going to seed. Leave clippings on the lawn unless you have weed seeds.

Prep

• Add compost to vegetable gardens along with organic fertilizer in prep for more summer crops

• Soil test

Tips

• When planting, dig hole twice as wide as root ball but no deeper than where it sits in the pot.

• Backfill and water until it sinks in.

• Continue filling in.

• Water again until it sinks in and pack the soil down.

• Mulch.

• Plant flowers in your vegetable garden to encourage bee pollinators.

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April