*  April is the best month EVER to get into the garden.  Actually, who am I kidding? 
Any month you can be in the garden is good, especially after the cold winter!

*  April is the month for planting summer flowering bulbs like Dahlias, Gladiolas and Lilies.

Who can resist long stalks of beautiful Gladiola flowers?

Don't write off dahlias as your Granny's flower.  There are breathtaking varieties now available in local nurseries.

*  The last Friday in April (April 29th this year) is National Arbor Day.  Plant a tree or support an organization which does.
They actually have a very cool website.  It provides information about various state celebrations.  They also give a history of Arbor Day with great black and white photos. 
Go to arborday.org to see some unexpected fun stuff. 

  
*  Prune spring blooming shrubs such as forsythia and spirea after they have completed flowering.  It's okay to cut them back right after the blooms are spent.  You won't harm the shrubbery.

Forsythia are the most vivid of all shrubbery.  Love spotting those bright yellow blooms!  Try a vase of forsythia sprigs for a pop of color in any room of your house.

*  Ever tried "fluffing' your mulch?  We're advocates of the less is more style of mulch.

If you have a thick layer of mulch in your gardens, you may not need more.  Too much mulch can prevent light and air from reaching plant roots, thus preventing photosynthesis from occurring. 

Photosynthesis is the process of converting light energy into fuel for a plant.

This landscape bed has way too much mulch in it.  It appears that the mulch washes over the side of the retaining wall when it rains.

The mulch in this garden looks perfect.  It's smooth and it's not too thick.  Plants appear healthy and it's obvious that the root system gets enough sunlight.

"Fluffing" mulch simply means that we break up the hard crust that may have formed during the winter.  We use a small hand tool, known as a garden weasel to get underneath the crust and turn it over.  Then, we smooth the mulch for a manicured look.

Here's the same type of tool that we use to "weasel" the hard crust of mulch back over the top of the existing layers.

It's very effective when dealing with layers of mulch that may have been spread over the years.  This technique also provides the appearance of a freshly applied mulch at a fraction of the cost.

You can also do it yourself.  Garden weasels are available at most hardware stores or on-line.

Test Garden Tip: