First Week
- Green grass in a Bermuda lawn is probably Poa annua (annual bluegrass). You can try digging it out but, better yet, make a mental note to put out weed preventer next September.
- Plant dahlias, elephant ear, gladiolus and caladiums now.
- Examine the backside of euonymous and holly leaves for the white crust that signifies scale insects. Thoroughly spray leaves with horticultural oil.
- Prepare spots where you intend to sod by first killing all weeds present. Use glyphosate (Roundup) or glufosinate (Finale).
- Be prepared for cold snaps at night. Use row covers newspapers or sheets to protect seedlings.
- Start seeds indoor of warm season vegetables and flowers if you haven’t yet.
- Feed fruit and nut trees and bushes.
- Give your bulbs some food once they finish blooming and allow the foliage to remain until it begins to turn yellow.
Second Week
- It is safe to plant tomatoes, peppers and eggplant in your garden now that the soil is warm.
- Spray azaleas with insecticidal soap if you have had azalea lace bug problems in the past.
- It's never the wrong time to lime your lawn. Forty pounds per 1000 square feet is approximately enough but a soil test can tell you exactly what you need.
- Stake perennials before they get too tall.
- Finish pruning roses. Remove dead and diseased wood first.
Third Week
- Remove guy wires from your fall-planted trees. Trees that move with the wind grow stronger than those supported for more than a few months.
- Mulch tomatoes immediately after planting to prevent early blight fungus from splashing from the soil onto the leaves.
- Plant Easter lilies outdoors after removing their faded blooms.
Fourth Week
- Plant corn, bean and pea seeds now. Use a soaker hose to water vegetable rows - you'll save water and prevent weeds and disease.
- Plant seeds directly in the vegetable garden
- Begin transplanting warm season seedlings outdoors when the soil has warmed and night temperatures stay above 50 degrees F.
- Plant the seeds of annual flowers such as marigold, cosmos, zinnia and celosia. Mix lots of soil conditioner in beds to help them be drought tolerant.
- Look for aphids clustered at the tips of fast-growing crape myrtle branches. Blast them off with a water hose and give a ground-dwelling spider a nice lunch.
- Sharpen or replace your mower blade now that lawn grass has begun growing rapidly. Check the mowing height on a flat surface.
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