Gardening at the end of April. Country and garden work in April. Useful tips and advice of an experienced gardener.

Spring time does not like lazy people - so much is needed just in time to collect good harvest. For many, the holiday season begins at the cottage in April. In April, the snow melts and, many of them move to live in the country, carrying with them harvested seeds and young seedlings.
According to the gardening calendar for April we will make a list necessary workthat should be completed at the dacha this month, and at the same time find out what to do in april at the cottagewhich I have broken into categories. Collected all the main types of April garden work.

What do gardeners do in April?

We remove last year’s mulch and spruce branches from the near-stem area. We carry them to a compost pile or burn them. Instead of them, we introduce new fertilizers, grind with fresh peat, manure with a complex of mineral fertilizers or with humus (especially useful for gooseberries, raspberries and currants).

We remove the winter trim of the trees, remove the dried branches, cut off the broken and dead.

With the help of the garden war we close up large cracks and hollows in the trunks.

Since mid-April, we have been preparing pits for planting shrubs and fruit trees. Do not forget about the mandatory spilling and binding of seedlings to the supports.

On currant bushes we cut off those buds that look like cabbage heads. Here are the nests of harmful ticks.

After the final snowfall, you can. First, remove the mulch and prune dry leaves. It is advisable to feed the berries with a mineral fertilizer complex (two tablespoons are needed per square meter bed). If you want to harvest the berries early - stretch a film on the arcs or agril and cover strawberry beds with such a greenhouse.

What to do in April florist?

Of course, first of all, all your flower gardens should be cleared of trash and prepare areas for new ones. About what flowers can be planted in April in the soil described in the article "?"

We plant more thermophilic flowers on seedlings on seedlings.

Under all bulbous plants and primroses it is recommended to apply nitrogen fertilizers.

In the prepared soil we sow seeds of annual flowers according to technology, which are not afraid of frost.

Gradually need to remove shelters from ornamental plants. It is best to do this on cloudy days. As soon as the soil warms up and the buds of the shelter swell up, it must be finally removed.

Roses should be under cover for now, but the soil under it should be watered with warm water with epin.

What should a gardener do in April?

When you loosen the soil do not forget to make humus under perennial plants.

Do not forget that if the seedlings become rapidly drawn out, then it is urgently necessary to give it more light.

For seedlings at the end of April, you can do forcing (hardening). To do this, in the daytime it is necessary to make pots of seedlings in the greenhouse, and take them back to the heat in the evening.

The place for the ridges on which you planned to grow vegetables this year should be covered with foil. Weeds will continue to grow, and the soil under the film will retain moisture.

We clean the greenhouse from debris, we make dressing with the help of sulfuric checkers or smoke.

On the potato field we make according to the specified scheme traps for wireworms and we destroy wheat grass.

Since late April, we sow seeds of greenery, radish, lettuce, carrots and turnips in open ground.

The second month of spring is considered to be the most time-consuming for summer residents, since the plan for working in the garden and in the garden in April becomes much wider and more complicated. This month, it is important to finalize the list of future plantings, determine the places on the site for the planned crops, and, of course, take care of your beloved summer house. What activities does the calendar of work at the country house provide in April and what needs to be started to implement now?

Major work at the cottage in April

In anticipation of the upcoming summer season, gardeners and gardeners make up their individual program of activities, which covers the main work at the summer cottage in April. Typically, such a program plan includes such tasks and goals as:

• 1. Tillage and prepare it for future crops.
• 2. Prevention of diseases in healthy trees and shrubs, as well as restoration and treatment garden landingsaffected during the winter from frost, wind, sunburn, pests and diseases.
• 3. Preparation planting material  for garden, garden and flower garden.
• 4. Transplanting plants.
• 5. Reproduction of berry and fruit crops.
• 6. Fight against diseases and pests of the garden, vegetable garden and flower garden.

In addition to these measures, in April they continue to buy new inventory and covering materials, they work in wall greenhouses, greenhouses and greenhouses standing on the site separately - thus catching up with everything that was supposed to be done according to the work plan at the cottage in March.

Works in the garden in April

One of the most important and laborious works in the garden in April is tillage and soil preparation. In many ways, the health and comfort of garden plantations, their protection from pests and vectors of diseases further depend on it.

This clause usually provides for the implementation of such procedures as:

• - digging of the thawed and slightly dried earth (in ancient times, the favorable time for digging was determined as follows: they squeezed the earth in a fist and, if it fell into large pieces on an open palm, they set to work);
• - tillage from pathogens of diseases and pests (often for this purpose, places for future plantings are shed with a hot solution of potassium permanganate);
• - introduction of organic and mineral fertilizers into the soil (if this procedure was not carried out until the fall).

If fertilizers were applied in advance to the soil, then spring digging is attempted not too deep. Light soil in the spring dug up to a lesser depth than in the fall. Heavy clay soils - at the same depth as in autumn processing.

In the course of digging, wet clods of earth are necessarily broken, because when they dry and petrify, it will be very difficult to cope with them. After the ground has been dug up, its surface is leveled with a rake to minimize moisture loss.

In the process of preparing the soil, it is possible to add organic and mineral fertilizers to it - in particular, if this has not been done until autumn. The calculation of the amount of fertilizers is made on the basis of the type and number of plants, the type of soil and the degree of its cultivation, etc.

It is extremely important to once again check the intended plan of planting, determine the places for sowing, taking into account crop rotation. On this plan, the location of ordinary, steam and high ridges, steam ridges, warm holes and heaps is often noted in the garden. In the future, such a detailed scheme will help save a lot of time when arranging places for future plantings and crops.

In addition to the above activities, the main spring work in the garden in April  include items such as:

• - planning of placement of crops on the site, taking into account the rate of their maturation (early ripening, middle and late ripening), the calculation of the area under each of the crops;
• - seed preparation, calibration and selection of full-weight specimens for sowing;
• - sowing on seedlings vegetable plants  (leeks, cabbage of all kinds), sowing pumpkin crops for seedlings for watering greenhouses - watermelons, cucumbers, melons, etc .;
• - sowing radish and cold-tolerant green crops in film greenhouses.

Around the second half of the month, it is allowed to sow seeds of cucumber, squash and squash for seedlings for further cultivation under temporary film shelters.

At the end of April (depending on weather conditions and relative stabilization of positive temperatures), you can start sowing cold-resistant crops in the open ground - radishes, radishes, spinach, carrots, beets, turnips, onions, beans, lettuce, spring garlic. Their seeds are able to germinate at a soil temperature of + 3 ° ... + 4 ° C, and the emerged shoots can withstand short-term and weak frosts - up to -5 ° C.

Also, spring work in the garden in April suggests planting early ripening potatoes at the end of the month (often using film shelters) and sowing medium-ripening cabbage seeds under the film.

Garden work in April

The second month of spring provides summer residents with the opportunity to do everything that was not done in March and postponed since the fall - it was the poet that the amount of work in the garden in April increased significantly. At this time of the year, the snow begins to melt very quickly, the snowmelt waters are rapidly leaving the site, and in the garden not only trees and shrubs awaken from hibernation, but also surviving pests, peddlers of dangerous diseases. So that you do not lose sight of any important event, we will give in this part of the publication a detailed list of what works should be carried out in the garden in April.

So, the garden plan in April is usually presented with such items as:

• - inspection of all fruit and berry plantations;
• - pruning of fruit trees, the formation of berry bushes;
• - grafting and re-grafting of trees;
• - procurement of planting material, checking seedlings stored and dug in the fall;
• - treatment of plants from overwintered pests and pathogens;
• - cleaning adult trunks garden trees, treatment and disinfection of wounds, hollows and damages, pruning dead and dry branches;
• - whitewashing of shtambov and bases of skeletal branches;
• - digging heavily compacted over the winter soil, digging areas not dug up in the fall, as well as loosening of dry land in pristvolnyh circles;
• - top dressing of garden landings;
• - preparation of material for smoke heaps (last year’s foliage, needles, cut branches, etc.);
• - early spring irrigation - in case the spring moisture in the soil is insufficient and the ground is too dry;
• - pruning and burning the branches of trees affected by the silkworm;
• - cleaning old nesting boxes and blueprints or installing new houses and bird feeders;
• - gradual removal of shelters (lapnik, mulch, etc.) from overwintered plants - this procedure is carried out depending on weather conditions and relative stabilization of heat;
• - planting pome, stone fruit and berry crops, transplanting trees and shrubs.

As a rule, all garden work in april  Start with a careful examination of the garden plantations and study their condition after the winter. In the process of inspecting the garden, those trees and shrubs that require transplantation are determined - in the event that they, for example, were planted in the wrong place. In addition, during a close study of your garden, you can easily identify cultures affected by sunburn, frost, strong winds, pests, and diseases.

Pruning and cleaning tree trunks

Having made a thorough inspection of the garden, you can proceed to such a responsible procedure as pruning and the formation of fruit trees and shrubs. Our website for gardeners and gardeners recommends that you follow the following sequence of actions: first, trim black currants, shadberries, raspberries, then trim gooseberries, white and red currants, apples and pears, and last but not least, plums and cherries.

Trees whose age has crossed the line at 12-15 years old, in the spring need to be cleaned from the old bark. Hearing and growing, it becomes covered with moss and over time becomes a habitat for pathogens and pests.

The cleaning procedure is performed with special scrapers, metal brushes and other devices, after the application of which the bark on the trunks should be smooth and updated. Carrying out the cleaning, along the way, it will be necessary to treat the found wounds, hollows, cracks and bites with a solution of copper sulphate, and then cover them.

Drawing up a plan for placing crops on the site

If in the coming year you plan to diversify your garden with new fruit and berry crops, try to think carefully about their placement on the site. Remember that randomly disembarking vegetable crops, shrubs and trees - is unacceptable. In the future, the randomness of planting will make it difficult (or even impossible) to combat pests and diseases.

Placement of all crops on the site should be carried out according to the principle of grouping the landings in accordance with their breeds. Moreover, it is more rational to have not one but several varieties with different periods of fruit ripening for each berry and fruit crops, both early and medium and late ripening. Such forethought will allow you to get an uninterrupted harvest of fruits and berries throughout the summer season.

Work with planting material

Separate attention requires such an important point of the work plan on the site in April, as the procurement and inspection of planting material. Saplings of garden crops must be purchased in the autumn or in the spring - before the start of the next summer season.

Seedlings, purchased in the fall, are added for wintering, and in the spring they are carefully inspected, assessing the general condition and degree of suitability for planting. Immediately before planting, examine the condition of the root system of seedlings: cut off and broken roots should be cut with a pruning shears to a healthy place.

Apple trees and pears are allowed to be planted in the fall (after the foliage has flown over the trees), and in the spring (strictly before the buds bud). It is desirable to plant the cherry and plum, in turn, in the spring, by no means lagging behind the planting dates, i.e. before bud break.

Planting strawberries

In the second half of April, they begin to prepare the ground for spring planting of strawberries - at least a week before the scheduled dates for planting seedlings. Early preparation of the soil for strawberries is necessary in order for the dug-up land to settle down and slightly condense. If you plant strawberries without waiting for the soil to settle, there will be a risk that the roots of the seedlings will become bare after some time, and the plants themselves will start to hurt and require transplantation. Usually they try to manage strawberries until April 20-23, since there will be no time left for it at all.

Grafting and breeding of horticultural crops

April is a suitable month for grafting and breeding horticultural crops. At this time, implant grafts top grades  pears in the crown of other pear trees, planted rooted cuttings of plums and cherries.

At the beginning of the month, woody cuttings of sea buckthorn planted from autumn and black currants are planted (their cuttings are planted very early, which is called “in the mud”). In late April, in turn, they plant such crops as:

• - raspberries (root cuttings planted from autumn are planted);
• - Chinese Schizandra (planted offsprings from the mother plant with a rhizome plot);
• - Actinidia (planted lignified cuttings).

Feeding

Taking into account the fact that in spring the fruit and berry crops need an enhanced nutrition, the plan of garden works in April necessarily includes such a point as feeding overwintered plantations. The most suitable moment for the application of top dressing is considered to be the short-term interval of time that occurs immediately after the complete melting of the snow - during this period the soil best absorbs the fertilizer applied. It is important to consider that this period begins and ends much faster on light sandy areas than on dense clay soils.

Fruit trees are fed up, distributing fertilizer over the soil surface in pristvolnyh circles. For better digestion of top-dressing, the fertilized topsoil will need to be shallowly dug.

Approximate fertilizer consumption per 1 square meter is:

• - 10 g of urea;
• - 0.5 cups of superphosphate and the same amount of potassium sulfate (it is allowed to replace all with 3 glasses of ash);
• - 1 bucket of organic fertilizers (applied 1 time in 3-4 years).

Top dressing berry bushes  must be enriched with nitrogen, so the recommended dose of urea above is desirable to increase to 20 g per 1 sq. km. meter.

Pest control and disease prevention

One of the biggest garden jobs in April is pest control and disease prevention. With the advent of spring heat and the gradual disappearance of nighttime cold weather, pests begin to awaken in the garden, at the same time increasing the activity of bacteria, viruses, carriers of various diseases.

Shrubs of currants and gooseberries, affected last year with mites, sawflies, fire kiln and other pests, are treated with karbofos or Celtan (from the calculation: 30 g of any of these funds per 10 liters of water).

Protect gooseberries and currants from sucking pests, in turn, allow such proven infusions as:

• - tobacco;
• - mustard;
• - garlic;
• - infusion onion peel, wood ash, etc.

The indicated infusions of planting are treated in the evening or in cloudy dry weather, since the prepared solutions will quickly evaporate in the sun on a hot day and the preventive treatment procedure will be ineffective.

In addition, currant and gooseberry bushes should be carefully examined to see if they are affected by powdery mildew, gall midge or currant glass bowl. Detected shoots with traces of pest activity or signs of the disease must be cut and burned.

In order to avoid the development of fungal diseases and attacks of gooseberries and currants with aphids, it is also recommended to sprinkle with nitrafen (the solution is prepared from 200 g of 60% paste and 10 liters of water), and the soil under them should also be treated with the same agent.

To protect the garden to be even more effective, gardeners use a wide range of methods for controlling pests and diseases - including both chemical and agricultural practices (we described them earlier in the corresponding publication).

Works in the flower garden in April

Generalized plan work in the flower garden in April  usually involves the implementation of such activities as:

• - picking seedlings of annual flowers sown in March;
• - care for seedlings of annuals sown in March (annual dolichos creepers, sweet peas, etc.);
• - fertilizing seedlings of flower crops - also sown in March;
• - fertilizing bulbous (hyacinths, daffodils, tulips) and small-bulbous crops (Scylla, snowdrops, crocuses, muscari, etc.);
• - feeding of perennial flowers that wintered in the ground (astilba, host, irises, phlox, primroses, peonies, lilies of the valley, etc.);
• - loosening perennials (carried out when the sprouts of flowers will become clearly visible);
• - reproduction of rhizomatous perennials by the method of division (carried out after the soil is completely thawed, but the kidneys still do not have time to start growing);
• - preparation of the soil for sowing seeds of annual flowers in open ground (cornflowers, iberis, lavater, clariki, escholcium, reseda, etc.);
• - gradual removal of shelters from clematis, roses, and also from iris rhizomes, covered with peat or earth before hibernation;
• - pruning roses in 2-3 decade of the month;
• - dressing of roses after pruning;
• - planting rose seedlings on permanent place  (after the land thawed in the flower garden);
• - sowing seeds of perennial flowers grown through seedlings (delphinium, feather-colored carnation, aquilegia, nivyanik, etc.) - these works are carried out in April at about 2 decade of the month, after the soil is completely thawed and properly warmed under film or glass.

Intending to carry out most of the work in the flower garden, in the garden or in the garden in April from the list above, it is important to take into account the weather and climatic conditions of your region. The dates given in the publication are a guide rather than a direct recommendation, so do not forget to regularly get acquainted with meteorological forecasts and information from weather forecasters.

Shifts this year in many regions of Russia by about a couple of weeks, as the spring is late, and the soil in the gardens is still under the snow. During the day, the temperature can rise to the level of plus ten, and you need to have time to sanitize the trees before the buds swell.

To do this, remove the winter strapping of tree trunks, clean the trunk and the fork of the branches from bark damage resulting from sunburn, improper pruning and breakage. These damages, as well as damages from mice, are cleaned to healthy wood, after which they are disinfected with a solution (5 percent) of copper sulfate. The treated surface is covered with garden pitch or a mixture of mullein with clay.

After the snow melts and the soil dries out from under the trees, last year’s leaves are scraped out and sent to a compost pile. From the remaining infection, the soil is treated with solutions of mineral fertilizers: nitrophos, ammonium nitrate, ammonium sulfate at the rate of 1 kg per 10 l of water or urea 0.5 kg per 10 l of water. A bucket of solution is treated with an area of ​​40 square meters. m

Trees damaged after winter are fed up by adding urea to the stem (20 g per 1 sq. M). It is scattered directly on wet soil. When the soil dries, it is loosened to a depth of 6 - 8 cm and mulch with a layer of humus 10 cm. Before the start of sap flow, trees are pruned to form the crown.

Before swelling of the buds, it is necessary to have time to treat the trees for the destruction of hibernating pests (caterpillar caterpillar, ringed and unpaired silkworm, aphid eggs, etc.). The treatment is carried out with a 3% Bordeaux mixture (400 g of freshlylive lime and 300 g of copper sulphate per 10 liters of water).

The works at the cottage in April should include mixtures of fungicides and insecticides and treat the plants with them, if on vegetables and berry crops, on plots, both pests and diseases appear simultaneously. To do this, prepare a solution: dilute 10 ml of water with either trichlormetaphos-3 (20 g), or chlorophos (20 g), or karbofos (30 g) together with polycarbacin (40 g) or with chlorine oxide (30 g), or zinebom (40 g), or with sulfur preparations (40 - 50 g).

These chemical elements are compatible with each other and are diluted in any proportions.
  Works in April at the dacha include the grafting of fruit trees. They plant an apple tree only on an apple tree, and a pear tree - on a pear, red rowan, hawthorn, irgu. At the same time, before the buds swell, pruning of cherries and plums is performed. They remove growing inside the crown branches, as well as broken and sick. If the bush is more than 10 years old, then rejuvenating pruning is performed.

After winter, if the whitewashing of trees has suffered, then it should be updated. This can be done with milk of lime, dissolving 100 g of copper sulphate and 1 kg of freshly sour lime in 10 liters of water, and the whole crown can be sprinkled on the plum and cherry. April cottage work includes planting seedlings. Two-year-old siblings are best suited for this. Root seedlings are instilled to a depth of 20 cm from the soil surface.

April - the time of the formation of gooseberry and currant bushes. Dry, broken and diseased branches are removed from these plants. At the age of 6–7 years, these plants should have 1.5–2 dozen basal shoots. Of the annual shoots in the formation of the bush each year should be left only 3 - 4 basal strongest shoots. The remaining annual shoots are cut, and the rest for better branching shorten.

In the gooseberry and the red currant, the old 8–10-year-old low-fertilizing branches are cut, and in the black currant, 5–6-year-old branches. On the black currant should remove the branches with swollen buds, which is a bud mite. You should also cut the branches damaged by the pincushion, stem gallfly and glass-pot.

If the branches are badly damaged, they should be cut to the ground. After cutting plants are treated with 3 percent solution bordeaux mixture  and 2% nitrophene solution to kill overwhelming pests. All branches cut off from plants burned. For pruning, pinning shoots of currants and gooseberries are done.

After the snow melted away, the number of works at the cottage in April included inspection and unleashing of raspberry bushes. Damaged branches are cut, the secateurs are buried a couple of centimeters into the ground so that the stump does not stick out. Undamaged stems are cut to a seventh part of the length, and frost-affected stems are cut to a healthy kidney. The plants are not immediately tied up; they do this only after a couple of weeks, allowing the plants to straighten up.

On strawberry beds remove brown leaves. At the same time, you should try to remove the entire leaf cutting. Adjust the height, raising or lowering the heart of the plant. Sprayed with 10 percent solution of Bordeaux disease liquid and garlic infusion or karbofos (20-30 g per 10 l of water) from the weevil. Then nitrogen fertilizers are applied, 30 g per 1 sq. M. m urea or ammonium nitrate, and loosen.

In case of spring frosts prepare material for smoke heaps.
  Only by doing all work at the cottage in April  You can count on a high yield in your area.

The main work gardener and gardener in April

1. April is a responsible month . First of all, it is necessary to lower the water from the site. If there is no slope on the site, then just dig a shallow groove, gradually deepening it so that the water flows in the right direction. Especially dangerous is the stagnation of water on raspberries, strawberries and clematis.

2. At the beginning of the month it is necessary to remove spruce branches from young plantings of strawberries, roses, clematis, lilies, especially from eastern hybrids, because under a warm shelter they quickly start growing and they can freeze out a little girl during return frosts. But boxes with roses and take pictures do not rush.

3. Feed nitrogen fertilizer (3 tablespoons of urea per 10 liters of water) lovage, rhubarb, sorrel. You can use instead of urea infusion of manure or bird droppings diluted with water of 1:10 or 1:20, respectively. If at the same time you cover these landings with lutrasil or place arcs over them and stretch the film, then by the first of May you will already have greenery.

4. If the compost heap is located in the sun, then you can sow early greens (chervil, cress, cilantro, parsley, lettuce, spinach, dill) and early carrots, as well as radishes. To do this, spill last year's compost heap with hot water, pour a layer of soil about 7–8 cm in height over it, and then sow the seeds. I usually do it this way: I mix one teaspoon of seeds with half a glass of fine sand and sow in the furrows as if with salt. You can use special seed drills, which are regulated by the size of the seed hole. In this case, the seedlings will not be thickened. Top crops should be sprinkled with a layer of soil 1-2 cm, seal it with a board and cover with a film before germination. Under it, heat and moisture remain, and shoots appear faster. After the emergence of shoots film must be removed so that they do not burn. If you cover crops with lutrasil or spunbond, then covering material can not be removed until the plants grow. Before the emergence of seedlings, crops should be watered directly on the material, if the weather is dry or windy, so that the huddled seeds do not dry out in the upper drying layer of the soil.

5. In early April, pre-grow weeds on vegetable beds, covering the ground with old foil and securing it so that it does not blow the wind. Under the film, the weeds will quickly ascend, and as soon as they appear, remove the film and bed the beds, leaving them open for a day. Then cover again with film and repeat the operation. Now there are no weeds in the upper soil layer. It is important not to dig up the soil, but only before the sowing, plow it up with a Fokin flat-cutter, then make a sharp end of the flat-cutter furrow for sowing. Sowing in the open ground of all the above crops can be done at the time of flowering mother and stepmother, that is, in late April - early May.

6. To get early strawberries, cover at least one garden bed with a film on the arches or double thin lutrasil directly in the bushes, but first spray the strawberry planting with a spring cocktail. It is prepared this way: two grains of “Healthy Garden”, two grains of “Ekoberin”, two drops of “Zircon”, six drops of “Fitoverma”, four drops of “Uniflor-growth” - all together per 1 l of water. "Healthy Garden" and "Ekoberin" must first be thoroughly dissolved in 100 g of water.

7. At home, seedlings of tomatoes and peppers water moderately, so as not to overwet the soil. Do not forget that seedlings need good lighting. As a top dressing, I use a weak solution of “Uniflor-growth” (1 tsp for 3-5 l of water), with which I water the seedlings instead of water. Do not forget to sprinkle the leaves of tomato and eggplants with a very weak solution of the copper preparation (it is easiest to use “Chom” (copper chloroxide), dissolving one fifth of a teaspoon of powder in 5 liters of water). The solution can stand, you will use it two more times approximately every two weeks. This is a good preventive measure against phytophthora. As mentioned above, instead of "Homa" you can use "Fitosporin."

To make the seedlings viable, you can spray it a couple of times during the growth of the above spring cocktail. But often the recommended spraying of a solution of manganese can not be done, because it does not save from late blight, and other diseases on the seedlings of to-mats rarely appear. A solution of potassium permanganate can be sprayed pepper, especially if it is plagued by aphids. Pepper is difficult to protect from aphids if you are in the same room with it houseplants. The “Healthy Garden” is excellent against it, but if the plant louse is already on the plants, then the concentration of the solution should be increased to 4-6 grains per 1 l of water. In the apartment you can use "Fitoverm". This is an excellent protection not only from aphids, but also from thrips.

8. Systematic spraying of seedlings (or watering) with a solution of “Healthy Garden” and “Ecoberin” preparations gives good results (two grains of each should be completely dissolved in 100 g of water, and then, adding water to 1 l, mix well). This solution can stand for a long time, you can add it to the top dressing (solution “Uniflor-growth” or “Bud”) and water it with seedlings instead of water.

9. Potatoes should be removed from storage. Dip it in hot (45 ° C) water. When the water has cooled, add potassium permanganate to a bright pink color and keep the tubers in solution for 15-20 minutes. Then rinse the tubers, dry and lay on the vernalization in a bright and cool place. At the end of April, put the potatoes in cardboard boxes, sandwiching each layer with newspapers, and place them in a warm place for good, strong shoots to appear. You will plant bred tubers, thereby accelerating the ripening of the crop for two weeks.

10. If you have not done pruning, then at the very beginning of the month you can still do it. Start with black currant bushes, gooseberries and honeysuckle.

Cut off the black ends of the branches, rejuvenate the bushes by cutting out the old branches. In gooseberry need to cut out all the young shoots growing in the middle. Leave only those that grow at the edges of the bush. The red and white currants of the verkhushka do not cut the branches, but only remove the old branches and those branches that branch off into the crown. At honeysuckle do pruning thickening crown or broken branches.

Cherries and plums do not rush to cut, leave it in the autumn, otherwise the wounds after pruning under strong pressure of the juice will not close and gum is formed (growths from thickened juice). Take your time and pruning apples or pears. After a harsh winter, the ends of the branches could freeze slightly, but some of them will be able to recover from the buds on the bark, so leave pruning at the end of summer. Frozen wood in apple trees has a light brown color on the cut. Start pruning from the end of the branch and, gradually moving from the end to the skeletal branches, you will reach the place where the cut is bright. Starting from this place, the fabric of the tree is alive, and no further cutting is necessary. But keep in mind that pears have sub-frozen wood that is slightly creamy, so do not try to cut a branch to white wood!

11. At the very beginning of the month, while the kidneys have not yet awakened, it is possible to manage to do spraying with iron sulfate (1 teaspoon without top per 100 g of water) to destroy lichens on the trunks of trees.

12. In addition, it is still possible to spray against hibernating pests with a solution of urea (700 g per 10 liters of water). Spraying should be done on the ends of branches, on branches and skeletal branches, on the trunk and pristvolnomu circle on the soil.

13. Toward the end of the month, those plants that have buds of buds have moved apart and a green cone of leaves has appeared, since the first pests place the larvae here. But, of course, you can not use a solution of high concentration, so spray infusions and decoctions of weeds or infusion of needles to disorient pests with their smell.

14. April - good time  for vaccinations. You can cut cuttings for vaccination in early April, wrap them in a newspaper, fold them into a plastic bag and stick them into the snow from the north side of the house - but so that they are not flooded with melt water. At the end of the month, you can use these cuttings for vaccination.

15. At the end of the month, sow annual seeds that are not afraid of frost right in the ground (poppy seeds, escholcium, kosmeyu, cornflowers, iberis, catchment, forget-me-nots). Other flowers can also be sown directly into the ground, even such as tobacco or petunia, but their crops should be covered with a film stretched over small arcs. It is easy to make arcs yourself from willow twigs, from which the bark should be immediately removed (willow usually grows along ditches). You can use as a backup plastic water bottles, placed along the landings. The lutrasil is put on them in two layers. Water gives stability to the bottles and, heating up during the day, gives off heat at night, thereby smoothing out sharp daily fluctuations in temperature.

16. At the end of the month, you can remove the shelter from all ornamental plants, except clematis.

It is better to cover their growing shoots at least with lutrasil.

17. At home in early April, sow parsley on the greens and fennel - in order to plant seedlings in the greenhouse or soil at the very beginning of May.

18. In addition, it is possible to sow cabbage of medium ripening, both heading and color (or broccoli).

19. It's time at the end of the month to go to nurseries for seedlings of perennial and annual flowers and vegetables and for planting material of strawberries, ornamental and berry bushes (grown, as a rule, in containers) - for example, in the “Slavic estate” in Shaglino (between Pavlovsk and Gatchina Varshavskaya), where well-known Hardwick specialists work.

Fruit trees grown in containers can be purchased at the New Agrotechnology nursery in Pushkin, Gusarskaya Street 15. There are also new varieties of strawberries from the famous breeder G. D. Alexandrova, well-established in the North-West region.

Now in large cities, huge OBI stores have appeared, specializing in the sale of goods for gardeners. There, in particular, a large selection of all kinds of planting material. However, you should know that this entire range is grown using special technologies on a conveyor in greenhouses, and therefore in open groundusually dies, especially in our region. Such plants should be kept in containers and put on the street only in suitable weather.

New seed varieties

New varieties of tomatoes and cucumbers for low greenhouses, loggias and balconies.   Almost all of these tomatoes and cucumbers can be grown on glazed balconies and balconies, as well as a room on the windowsill. But containers for plants must be at least 3-4 liters.

Decorative hybrids "Pearl Yellow", "Pearl Red" height of only 20-30 cm. They can be grown in the room on the windowsill. These tomatoes give up to 30 small fruits weighing only 15-20 g. Well suited for hedgehogs and balconies. The variety is rather high (60 cm), with fruits weighing up to 80 g. Hybrid “Ustinya” is a short-growing bush with fruits weighing about 80 g, “Venus” - with fruits up to 90 g, Inkas, König, Micah , "Sophia". More varieties: "Rival" with fruits up to 100 g, "Ugazher" with tomatoes up to 120 g, "Knight", "Marussia". There is a new variety, resistant to adverse weather conditions, “Crossbow” with red fruits weighing 50-60 g.

In early April, gardeners are waiting for a lot of work. It is necessary to have time to prune trees and shrubs, airing winter shelters, protect plants from sunburn, sow seedlings, care for perennials and lawn.

Pruning trees in spring

The degree of pruning depends on the age of the trees and shrubs. Equally important is the frequency of pruning. If you resorted to it from time to time, then you have to pretty tricky.

Ventilation

Protection against sunburn and frost

Spring lawn care

Spring care for perennials

Sowing seedlings