Gardeners Checklist: First Week of April

By Ron Kujawski

• Consider the tomato varieties "Mountain Magic," "Plum Regal" and "Legend" when starting
tomato plants from seed this week. Even those gardeners with a memory as defective as mine
will recall the late blight epidemic of 2009 that ruined many tomato crops throughout New
England. I’m not suggesting that this blight will be an issue this year but the three varieties
mentioned have good disease resistance or tolerance to many diseases, including late blight.

• Use cool white fluorescent or LED lights for growing seedlings. Avoid incandescent lights
since they promote stem elongation resulting in leggy seedlings. Vegetable and flower seedlings
should be short and stocky, much like my Uncle Stumpy. Set up a timer so that lights will be on
for 16 hours per day. The lights should be between 3 and 5 inches above tops of seedlings.

• Start moving plants that need to be moved once the soil is dry enough to dig. Move small trees
and shrubs, including blueberry bushes, to new locations if desired and continue to do so until
buds open and new leaves begin to appear.

• Think about planting spring flowering bulbs now. Pay attention! I didn’t say plant the bulbs; I
said think about it. Why? Because spring flowering bulbs are now in bloom or coming into
bloom and this is a good time to look for gaps in existing plantings and for places where fall
plantings of bulbs could go. Taking pictures of the yard and gardens now will help in making
decisions on new planting sites once bulbs sales begin in fall.

• Place stepping stones in wide perennial borders. This will allow you to stroll among the plants
without the risk of stepping on them, especially on newly emerging plants. It also allows you to
get up close and personal with the plants as they grow and flower through the year.

• Cut back the tattered leaves of hellebores and bergenia. I love these evergreen perennials but
their leaves do look pretty bad in early spring. Don’t worry, new leaves will soon emerge. While
you’re surveying for tattered leaves, check out pachysandra beds. Pachysandra often take a
beating in winter and now is the time to clean out dead leaves and damaged stems. Plants with
such damage are susceptible to leaf blight and stem canker diseases. Thinning out crowded beds
of pachysandra will improve air circulation around the remaining plants and help reduce the
chances of disease infections.

• Get your children or grandchildren involved in the vegetable garden. Studies have shown that
children are more apt to eat vegetables that they themselves have grown. Hmm, I grow beets but
I don’t eat them. However, I’m not a child, just an old curmudgeon.

Ron Kujawski began gardening at an early age on his family's onion farm in upstate New York. Although now retired, he spent most of his career teaching at the UMass Extension Service. He serves on Berkshire Botanical Garden’s Horticulture Advisory Committee.