Fertilizer and Pest Tips – April Gardening

fertilizer

Now is the time to focus on fertilizer and preventing pests in your lawn and garden. Paul, our garden expert, offers fertilizer and pest tips below.

Flowers

“April showers bring May flowers”, or so the saying goes. However, many are probably enjoying pretty flowers already. The mild winter and recent rains have allowed many to enjoy and earlier showing of many blooming plants. Continue to remove dead blossoms from all plants for continual blooming. Fertilize with a nitrogen fertilizer (urea or ammonium sulfate) on a monthly basis: ¼ lb of urea per 100 sq. ft. or ½ lb of ammonium sulfate, or 1 lb of blood meal.

Ants

Watch for infestations of the pesky fire ants. You can use baits which they pick up and return to the mound. Control is slower, usually 2-6 weeks. Rain lessens the effectiveness of baits, so use when rain is not expected for a few days.

Lawns

Mowing and fertilizing of lawns has already begun. They type of grass in your lawn will determine the mowing height—rule of thumb—do not remove more than ½ of the mowing height for your type of turfgrass.
Example: Maintain Bermuda at 2”, mow 1” off; maintain St. Augustine at 4”, mow 2” off.

Garden

Fertilize vegetables to generate growth and foliage which provide energy for the plant to produce more harvested fruits and vegetable garden to preserve soil moisture. Thin fruits from branches of fruit trees that are bending or bowing due to too many on the branch. This allows the remaining fruits to reach maximum size.

Continue checking for insect pests on fruit trees and vegetable and apply appropriate measures for control.

The top five insect pests to watch for in the garden: aphid, spider mites, thrips, tomato hornworm, and grasshopper.

Come by and see us at the Garden Center for all your needs!

Happy Gardening,

Paul

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