Home Gardening

North Mississippi Gardening Tips
April, 2005

LAWNS

Warm season grasses like zoysia and Bermuda grass are going through the “spring transition” beginning this month and continuing into May in our area. This is the time that the grasses are breaking dormancy and beginning new growth. Do not apply post emerge herbicides to these grasses during this period. They can damage or hinder turf in the early stage of active growth.

If you haven’t fertilized your cool season tall fescue lawn do it early this month. We are fortunate in north Mississippi that we can grow this cool season grass as a permanent shade turf unlike our brethren further south. My shady lawn of ‘Rebel’ fescue has been known to stay green year round when the winters were mild and I didn’t forget to water during July and August.

There are some things in life you cannot do no matter how hard you try. You can’t talk sense into your teenager. You can’t kiss your own elbow and you can’t grow grass in heavy shade under trees. What you can grow is moss. If you have it already encourage more of it. It’s a lovely green practically year round. It never needs mowing. It makes a nice bed on those balmy, warm spring days when you want to lie on your back with your loved one and gaze at the puffy clouds moving across the sky. If moss doesn’t suit you, here are some good ground covers for shade: English ivy, monkey grass, mondo grass, periwinkle (Vinca minor) and hosta. This month is a good time to plant these ground covers in those shady areas.

TREES AND SHRUBS

When dogwoods bloom, someone always asks can I successfully dig a young dogwood tree from the wild and transplant it in my yard. The answer is yes, but why would you want to? Trees growing in the woods are seedling trees that take much longer to flower than named selections such as ‘Cloud 9’ and ‘Cherokee Princess’. Bloom size and quantity is typically less on a seedling tree also. Your wild tree is certainly more likely to harbor disease and insect problems than one cared for by a reputable nurseryman. So, go ahead and dig up that tree, but don’t be disappointed if it doesn’t turn out to be the asset to your landscape that you had envisioned.

Azaleas are strutting their stuff this month. These plants when in flower are the glory of the Southern garden. Don’t fall into the trap of thinking you have to have one of every color. There’s a difference between having mass of color in the landscape and having mess of color. If you insist on having competing bloom colors separate them with white-blooming varieties and plant in mass. Shop for new plants now when they are in flower, so you can match the colors to what you already have.

Fertilize spring-flowering trees like dogwood, redbud, ornamental cherry, crabapple and others as the petals fall. Use one pound of 5-10-15 fertilizer per inch circumference of the tree measured three feet above the ground.

Many shrubs will be finishing up their bloom this month. This is the time to encourage new growth by fertilizing. Summer flowering shrubs can also be fertilized now. A general fertilizer recommendation for shrubs is one-half pound of 13-13-13 per three feet of the shrub’s height.

VEGETABLES

You are anxious to get those warm-season vegetable seed in the ground. But, until the ground warms to above 60º F most warm season vegetables, including beans, squash and corn, will not germinate reliably. If you’re planting watermelon, cantaloupe or okra the soil temperature should be at least 75 degrees for good germination. By the middle of this month the ground should be sufficiently warm for good germination of most warm season vegetables

FRUIT

Planting and pruning of fruit trees is passed. Now is the time to stay on schedule with your spray program. You may think, since the apple, pear, grape, peach and other fruit are not easily visible that it is all right to skip a spraying or two. Don’t do it. Insects and disease are out there and looking for a host. It is difficult for the homeowner to produce supermarket-quality fruit, but maintaining a regular spray program will help keep those unwelcome visitors from surprising us when we bite into that apple.

The strawberries you set out earlier this spring should be settled in and flourishing. Be sure to keep them well mulched or the weeds will quickly take over your beds. The mulch makes a nice pad for your knees as you crawl down the rows next month picking those berries. It also keeps the berries clean and prevents you from getting a mouth full of grit when you can’t resist popping that big strawberry into your mouth.

Our native grape, the muscadine, rarely needs spraying. What it does need is a vigorous pruning once a year to keep it in bounds and fruiting well. If your muscadine vine stills looks like a giant hairball, don’t despair. You can still prune if you do it early in the month before the flowers bloom. Don’t let the sap flowing from the cut branches disturb you. It won’t hurt the plant.

PERENNIAL FLOWERS

Early this month is the time to fertilize your fast-growing perennials. A general recommendation without a soil test is 2-3 pounds of 8-8-8 per 100 square feet of bed area. Wash or brush off any fertilizer that comes in contact with the foliage. I personally like to use the slow-release fertilizers. They are more expensive, but they will release their nutrients slowly over a long period of time and you don’t have to worry so much about the fertilizer burning the foliage. Read and follow label directions for rate and frequency of application. Try not to disturb the roots and crowns of your established perennials as you add annuals to your borders. Continue to add newly purchased perennials to your bed areas, keeping in mind how the plant’s bloom season, height, spread and cultural requirements fit into the overall planting. It is not too late to carefully lift and divide those perennials that do not have heavy top growth or have already started to bloom.

Lelia Scott Kelly, Ph.D., writes North Mississippi Gardening Tips monthly and is a Horticulture Specialist with the Mississippi State University Extension Service. Her office is in the North Mississippi Research & Extension Center, Verona.