Doon Gardening society Monthly News Letter - APRIL

Doon Gardening society Monthly News Letter - APRIL

 
Dear Gardeners,

Welcome to the month of APRIL and with it the onset of summers. This year weather in Dehra Dun has turned up from the mild spring to a very warm early summer, which normally commences after mid April.

Annuals & Perennials

If you still have pansies, violas and other winter annuals in bloom, enjoy them for another few weeks before converting to summer annuals. Consider where your color displays can make the biggest impact. Some early spring perennials may have already finished flowering but peonies and foxglove are all in their glory now. This is also a great time to plant perennials as most garden supply centers have their biggest stock available this month.

Look at some of the hot new plant introductions. For annuals you can’t beat  Angelonia - called summer snapdragon, or hybrid Periwinkle, Celosia like plant with beautiful light purple feathery flowers. Vista Bubblegum Petunia, Diascia hybrid (Twinspur) or some of Callibrachoa.

Plants don’t need to be in bloom to be planted.  Make sure you choose plants that can extend your color throughout the gardening season. There are a whole range of colors now for Echinacea, including pinks, reds, yellows and orange varieties. Rudbeckia and hardy hibiscus also have plenty of new varieties to choose from. Whether you have sun or shade, you should have plenty to choose from.

Flowers plants you should put in now to enjoy a colorful summer and monsoon garden:

Balsam	Browallia	Cacalia	Celome	Celosia Plumosa
Celosia Cristata (Cockscomb	Coleus	Coreopsis	Gillardia	Gompherena
Bleeding Heart	Marigold French	Mirabilis Jalapa	Nemophila	Nicotiana
Petunia Single	Portulaca	Salvia	Tithonia	Tornia
Yarrow	Verbena	Sada Bahar	Viola Odorata	Zinnia

Bulbs - What to plant in April:

This is the right time to plant the summer and Monsoon bulbs of the following plants:

Caladium	Crinum (Fragranent)	Glorirose (Climbing Lily)	Foxglove	Football lily	Hemorocalls (Day Lily
Eucharis	Gloxinia	Gompherena	Tuberose (Rajniganda)	Wax Flowers	Zephyr Lily

 
Shrubs and trees Shrubs

Some spring blooming shrubs in your garden may still be in bloom, but some have finished their blooming cycle. Once they are finished, prune if needed. If you grow Forsythia, remove one third of the older canes at the soil line now to rejuvenate the plant for better flowering next spring. Azaleas that need pruning should have it done as soon as possible after flowering. Then fertilize all spring bloomers with a slow release fertilizer. On established plants, one application a year is all that is needed. Don’t be alarmed if you notice thick waxy leaves on your Azaleas or Camellias. Cool spring weather can cause an outbreak of Azalea leaf gall. These thick waxy leaves look worse than they really are. Simply snap them off and dispose of them (not in the yard) and the problem should stop with warmer weather.

Monitor your Hydrangeas this month. New growth should be sprouting from the tops, not the base. If winter damage occurred, prune it out, but don’t be too quick to do so. Wait until mid too late in the month to give plants a chance to start growing on their own. If you see no signs of new growth by the end of the month or early May, it won’t be coming. Unless you grow the reblooming Hydrangeas like Endless Summer, you won’t have many (if any) flowers on winter damaged plants.

Use an all-purpose fertilizer to feed roses and other deciduous trees and shrubs. If you use granular type fertilisers, be sure to water it in thoroughly.

Finish pruning fruit trees this month - before the buds swell.

What to sow
Sow seeds of summer blooming annuals indoors.

Seeds which were started indoors last month may be transplanted from the flats into peat pots and given dilute fertiliser.

If you have a greenhouse, it is time to take cuttings of 'wintered over' plants such as Coleus, Chrysanthemums, Geraniums, and other perennials.

Alternating thawing and freezing can tear plant roots and even force the plant right out of its hole. If you notice any plants that have heaved, push them back into the earth, and tamp lightly with your foot.

Divide and transplant summer blooming perennials and fertilise established ones as soon as new growth appears.

Pruning
Prune winter Jasmine after flowering; cut honeysuckle back to 3ft.

Remove all dead blooms from bulbs.

Fertilise any bulbs that have finished blooming with bone meal or bulb booster.

Pinch off tips of Sweet Pea seedlings.

Fruits & Vegetables

With the economy struggling, more and more gardeners are planting their own food crops. It makes sense to plant what your family likes the most, and then experiment with some new or unusual plants. When you get the idea to garden, often folks become a bit carried away - planting more than they can maintain, or eat. If you can maintain a large garden, and can’t eat all you produce, consider donating your extra produce to local food banks. A national program is called Plant a Row for the Hungry, and it asks gardeners to plant an additional row of vegetables for those in need. When starting a vegetable garden, choose a site that gets plenty of sunlight and that is well drained, but near a water source. Make gardening as easy on yourself as possible. Raised beds are an excellent way to deal with rocky soils. You bring in the compost and soil yourself. Plant perennial plants such as asparagus on the edge of the garden, to keep them undisturbed. Divide the garden into thirds and practice crop rotation, not planting in the same quadrant with the same vegetable for at least three years. You have until mid month to plant even the cool season crops like broccoli, lettuce and kale, along with green beans and early sweet corn. Tomatoes, peppers, and eggplant should be planted after mid to late April. Plant corn in several short rows to aid in pollination, versus one long row. Fruit trees can give you plenty of fresh grown produce, but they have a price - with rigorous pruning and spray schedules. Some carefree tree fruits try figs.

Take a little time to prepare the vegetable garden soil for planting.
The additions of well-rotted manure, processed manure, peat moss or
It is the last month to harvest the winter crop like Broccoli, Celery, Cauliflower, Cabbage. Methi and Spinach. However with the onset of summers these need to be protected from pest attacks. Spray your plants with Neem spray or Malathion or Fenvalerate at 2 ml per liter of water, at least 10 days prior to lifting these plants.

It is the right time to plant the summer/monsoon vegetable plants as under:

Beans	Bitter Gourd	Bottle Gourd	Cucumber	Capsicum
Chilies	Lettuce	Lobia	Okra	Pumpkin
Ridge Gourd	Radish	Tinda	tomatoes

 
House Plants

House plants will react to longer days and brighter light at this time by putting out new growth. The end of this month is a good time to pinch them back to generate new growth and to thicken them.
You can then begin fertilising again with a dilute solution of soluble house plant food.

Turn your houseplants a quarter turn each week to make sure all sides of the plant receive adequate light, and to keep the shape of the plant balanced.

Mist or spray your houseplants to clean away the winters dust, prevent Spider Mites and add a little humidity.

Remain vigilant in watching for insects and pests. It is much easier to win a 'bug war' if you are aware of the infestation in its early stages.

Odds and ends

The most dreaded tasks of all are weeding, but it is one that really needs to be accomplished before the weeds have a chance to flower and go to seed.
Remember once the weeds go to seed you can be fighting that weed seed for up to seven years or more. Most weeds can simply be pulled or cultivated out of the garden while they are young.

Turn the compost pile, adding any course mulch which was removed from the garden to it.

Pest control
Keep an eye out for Aphids (spray off with water) and Cutworms (Cutworm Dust).

 
The secret to preventing pest problems is simple. Just plant more flowers! Borage, sweet alyssum, sunflowers, calendula, and cosmos lure in pollinators and the beneficial insects that help keep aphids and other bad bugs in check.

Lawns
Repair damaged areas of the lawn. Dethatch, rake or aerate. Apply Dolomite Lime to sweeten the soil if needed. Most lawns will need a spring feeding but if thatching or liming needs to be done, do those jobs first. If moss is a problem, a combination fertiliser and moss killer can be applied, to do both jobs in one easy application.
Over-seeding can be done as the last step, after the lawn has been fertilised.

Soil test
Test your soil for pH to see if any amendments are necessary.
A general rule of thumb is to add 2 kg of lime per 20 sq meters (100 sq. ft.) of garden for every pH point below 6.5, or 1 lb. of sulfur per 100 sq. ft. for every pH point above 7.5.

Sawdust, composted oak leaves, wood chips, peat moss, cottonseed meal, and leaf mold lower the pH while ashes of hardwoods, bone meal, crushed marble, and crushed oyster shells raise the pH. The best way to adjust pH is gradually, over several seasons.

Other odd and ends

April is a good time to note areas of poor drainage. If there are pools of water in your yard that do not drain. Fill in the low spot or scoop out a channel for the water to drain away.

Clean out all of your birdhouses now, so that they will be ready when the birds return.

Repair any fencing, arbors, or trellis work that is weak or has broken over the winter.

Check the plants under the eaves of the house and under tall evergreens to see that they have sufficient moisture.

The winters are gone and the spring is giving way to the summers. There may be some rains during the first week of April, which is quite normal during this period. The day temperature in Dehra Dun is now around 30 - 34° C and the night comes down to 18 - 20° C.

Climbing roses should be thinned out to get rid of last year’s tangled growth.

House plants may notice the longer days, and begin growing. You can begin feeding them again, but use a dilute 50% fertilizer mix until the growth is robust.

Continue feeding our feathered friends, you'll want them to stick around to help you in insect control when the weather warms again.

Did you check your garden tools yet? Don't wait 'til the spring rush to get your mower back in shape!

Recipe of the month - Vegetarian stir fry

I tend to use the most basic mix for the vegetables, however you can use whatever you prefer or have. I feel cabbage, carrots and bean sprouts are a must in Chinese cooking, so they will always appear in my stir fries unless I am trying out a new recipe. I use a grater for the carrot & ginger, which gives it the correct thickness for the stir fry, however if you use the shop bought mix you will not have to worry about this.

Preparation time: 15 mins            Cooking time: 15 mins            Serves: 2

Ingredients

1 cup sliced capsicums (any mix of colours will do)

1 bunch of spring onions sliced

1 inch ginger grated

2 cloves of garlic sliced

1 small white cabbage shredded

2 carrots grated

1/2 cup each cut diagonally baby sweet corn & sugar snap peas

2 cups bean sprouts

2 tbsp sesame oil

1 tsp Chinese five spice

Sesame seeds to garnish

For the sauce

3 tbsp soy sauce

6 tbsp sugar

6 tbsp vinegar

4 tbsp corn flour

Method

1) Heat a wok on high for a few minutes, add the oil and the spring onions, ginger, garlic and capsicums. Sauté for a few minutes and then add all the other vegetables apart from the bean sprouts.

2) While the vegetables are cooking make the sauce by mixing all the ingredients in a bowl and keep aside until needed.

3) On high heat constantly stir the vegetables so that they do not stick to the wok. Once the vegetables start to whilt a little, add the spice mix and the sauce mixture, stir and then add the bean sprouts, mix and you are ready to serve with either noodles, plain or fried rice.                         

Regards and happy gardening