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Mercer County Horticultural Activities and Expectations
Click a month button above to view a list of possible problems you might find in your home, landscape or garden during that month and also see a list of suggested “To Do” items:
Things to Do This Month:
- Plant roses
- prune roses as soon as buds begin to push or when forsythia is in full bloom
- Turf
- fertilize lawn, if necessary
- preemerge crabgrass control (to Apr. 15)
- reseed small damaged lawn areas
- apply lime if necessary
- apply grub control only if necessary
- resume mowing
- improve soil with organic matter and pre-plant incorporation of fertilizer, lime
- plant perennials and cold tolerant annuals
- divide late blooming perennials
- plant trees and shrubs
- fertilize trees and shrubs
- prune trees and shrubs (not spring blooming)
- start seeds indoors
- plant cool-season vegetables
- apply dormant oil applications (early in the month)
- apply lime sulfur to plants that won’t tolerate oil sprays, if needed
- apply control for Eastern tent caterpillars
- apply control for white pine weevil
- apply hemlock woolly adelgid oil spray if needed (late)
- correct winter damage
- begin spray schedule for tree fruit
Things to Watch for This Month:
- Lone star tick adult peak activity (into May)
- termite reproductives
- carpenter ant
- white pine bark aphid (adelgid)
- emergence from the house of over-wintering insects
- clover mite activity
- giant hornets (strip bark on lilac etc.)
- spruce mite activity (late)
- European pine sawfly larvae hatch (late)
- red thread disease in ryegrass
- Volutella canker of pachysandra
- Dutchman’s breeches, Virginia bluebells in flower
- forsythia bloom (early to mid)
- lilac bloom
- early tulips, daffodils bloom (first week and on)
- Saucer and Star Magnolia bloom
- Eastern tent caterpillar
- wild onion growing (early)
- Winter annual weeds in lawns and beds: hairy bittercress, common chickweed, henbit, purple deadnettle, some speedwells