April Checklist 2008

• Fertilize the lawn as needed and apply herbicides to control annual and broadleaf weeds. Always read and follow label directions. Take the hassle out of these tasks and their timing by enrolling in the Greenview Annual Lawn Plan, a customized annual fertilizer program featuring Greenview Fairway Formula products.

• Mow the lawn as needed, but keep it about 3 ½ inches high.


'Firebird' crabapple
© Bailey Nurseries

• Don’t remove the foliage of spring-blooming bulbs until it turns yellow or brown and falls flat. The foliage needs to ripen to replenish the bulb with the nutrients needed for next year’s blooms.

• If needed, prune spring-flowering shrubs or trees shortly after their flowers fade. You may not have to prune unless there are errant branches or you need to take out selected branches to control for shape or size. Many of these shrubs form their flower buds on branches developed in the summer before they bloom the following spring. If you wait until this summer or fall or next spring to prune these shrubs, you will cut of next year’s flowers.
  
  Here is a sampling of shrubs or trees to prune in spring:
  

  
  Azalea (Rhododendron)
  
  Witch hazel
  Photo courtesy Monrovia
  
  
  Bradford pear (Pyrus calleryana)
  
  Crabapple (Malus)
  
  Dogwood(Cornus)
  
  Doublefile viburnum (Viburnum plicatum var. tomentosum)
  
  Forsythia (Forsythia)
  
  Lilac (Syringa)
  
  Mock orange (Philadelphus)
  
  Redbud (Cercis)
  
  Witch hazel (Hamamelis)

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