April in Low Desert Gardens Pt IV

Posted by Robert Dailey Apr 10, 2007

Got your beds ready? Want to see some beautiful rose blooms? April is the time to get cracking.

Vegetables

You’ve been itching all winter to put out veggies. Well, get to it.

Right now is the time to plant beans, black-eye peas, carrots, cucumbers, jicama, melons (watermelon and cantaloupe), okra, green onions, peanuts, radish, summer squash and sunflowers.

Even if you don’t eat the sunflower seeds, birds love ‘em, and, by planting them on the outside of your garden, the birds will be more apt to eat the sunflower seeds than peck at your other veggies.

Roses

You might want to check roses for insects and possible fungal problems.

Also, now is the time to put some liquid fertilizer on those roses. You might want to try a fish emulsion spray (roses love it and it helps produce beautiful foliage and great, full, healthy flowers). Some people object to the smell, but mixed with water properly, the smell is barely noticeable, dissipates rapidly, and is much more healthy for your roses than chemical fertilizers.

Watering Plants

As the days grow longer and warmer, start watering your plants (and your lawn if you have one) more efficiently and more effectively. Water more often and water slowly and deeply. Deep and infrequent watering is more effective for plants than regular daily sprinkles

If the grass on your lawn is greening up and you’re seeing some weeds start to pop up, do yourself and the world a favor by not using some type of “weed and feed” product. Herbicides from such products tend to migrate in the soil, get into the water tables, can kill plants you don’t want them to kill (like the roses you just sprayed with fish emulsion). Many gardeners prefer to add some organic compost over the grass, and pull as many weeds as you can.

And please, if you must use herbicides, whatever you do, do not use any pre-emergence herbicides anywhere you intend to plant seeds…because pre-emergence herbicides are designed to kill seeds, and it doesn’t know how to distinguish between wanted and unwanted plants.