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Mystery of the month
Are your tulips and other spring flower bulbs not coming up well?
Have you noticed mulch or leaves getting stuck on or between the emerging leaves?
Find out what you should do at the bottom of this article.
Pests and diseases
Prune shrubs that may have been chewed on by rabbits and voles.
Some shrubs will regrow just fine from the base, like dogwoods, shrub willows, and ninebark. If your spring-flowering shrubs were too severely chewed on, they likely will not bloom this spring.
Make a note to protect the plants with hardware cloth cages this fall so you have less animal browsing damage next year.
Trees and shrubs
Plant bareroot trees and shrubs while the plants are still dormant (not growing leaves), and when the soil is above freezing.
Bareroot trees and shrubs are generally cheaper than container-grown plants that are available later in the growing season. They are a great option when you need to buy multiple of the same plant, such as when you want to establish a hedge.
Flowers and other garden plants
Sow seeds in the second half of April; it’s not too late to start some annual plants for your garden!
Cool-season vegetables like peas and leaf lettuce can be safely direct-seeded during April throughout much of the state.
Learn when to plant many vegetables in Minnesota.
Houseplants
Increase watering and fertilizing as day length increases. Some houseplants start growing more quickly and require more attention as we move through spring.
Hold off on putting any houseplants outside until nighttime temperatures are at least 60°F.
Lawn
Most lawns do not need a crabgrass preventer or preemergent herbicide application. If you are going to use one, though, you will want to use it around the time forsythia blooms, or when surface soil temperatures reach about 50°F.
If these conditions are already met in your area, consider using crabgrass preventer products containing the active ingredient dithiopyr, as it has some post-emergent activity on crabgrass that may have already germinated.
Make sure these and any general lawn fertilizer-only products that are applied are watered in with 0.5 inches of rain or irrigation water.
Other tasks
Get your soil tested to learn what nutrients are already present in your yard and garden.
Most garden soil samples submitted to the UMN Soil Testing lab have excess phosphorus, a nutrient that contributes to polluted waterways. Read more about the impacts of phosphorus on water quality.
You may need to gently pull leaves and other mulch away from the plants, as shown in this Hort Short video about pulling mulch away from perennials.
Solution to the mystery of the month
Mulch, including fallen leaves and wood chips, can create a physical barrier that is difficult for bulbs to push through. Carefully remove the mulch or leaves from the bulb leaves.
To prevent this from happening next year, pull mulch away from where you planted bulbs in early spring, before the plants start to grow.
Don’t worry if you see yellowing on the bulb leaves after you pull the mulch away; the leaves will green up after a few days.
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