It's finally April, and the start of  Real Gardening in the Northeast. Here's some of what to do:

• Give your yard a good raking and then apply lawn fertilizer. Mother Earth will thank you if you use a natural product like Bradfield Organics. If you had crabgrass last year, apply one of the new corn gluten products that inhibit weed germination.
• Pick those first few flowers for a dainty vase on the bathroom sink. Pulmonaria, helleborus, violets and corydalis make a nice bouquet.
• Order mulch. Consider a natural product like Agrimix or Sweet Peet, which will add fertility to the soil as well as shield it from the sun and drying winds.
• Transplant, transplant, transplant. Now's the time, once the ground is thawed and before plants truly wake up, to snug them into new homes. They'll never know they've been moved.
• Start shopping the nurseries for what's in bloom. The best way to have a season-long colorful garden is to head to the nurseries every few weeks and see what's blossoming. Purchase accordingly.
• Fill patio pots with a half & half mixture of potting soil (I like to use one with fertilizer, like Miracle-Gro) and your own compost
• Pull and destroy invasives such as bittersweet & garlic mustard.
• Scatter bulb fertilzer around emerging bulbs. Bulb-tone is a good choice.
• Continue to apply deer repellent once a week.
• See my gardening blog, www.colleenplimpton.blogspot.com for ongoing information.