April 30 work in the garden and vegetable garden. Summer cottage and garden work in April

The most popular weather signs for April include the following:

• At the beginning of the month, a big spill - for a good harvest.
• Thunderstorm in early April - for a warm summer and a harvest of nuts.
• If a lot of sap flows near the birch, then the summer will be rainy.
• If the birch has opened before the alder, then the summer will be sunny, if on the contrary it will be cold and rainy.
• If a nightingale sang on bare trees, then you can expect a good fruit harvest.
• What the weather is on April 1, the same will be on October 1.

These folk omens of April come true with an almost 100 percent guarantee.

Lunar calendar for April 2017: signs of the zodiac and phases of the moon

According to the lunar calendar for April 2017, the moon will pass through the signs of the zodiac on the following dates:

Zodiac signs 2017	April
Aries	24 (3.34), 25, 26
Taurus	26 (4.57), 27, 28
Twins	1,2, 28 (4.40), 29, 30
Cancer	2 (21.28), 3,4, 5,30 (4.49)
a lion	5 (1.14), 6, 7
Virgo	7 (7.21), 8, 9
Libra	9 (15.35), 10, 11, 12
Scorpio	12 (1.43), 13, 14
Sagittarius	14 (13.28), 15,16, 17
Capricorn	17 (2.06), 18, 19
Aquarius	19 (13.53), 20, 21
Fish	21 (22.44), 22, 23, 24

Moon phase according to the lunar calendar for April 2017:

The nature of the moon in the period	Growing		Decreases
Date and time of the beginning of the period	3 (21.41)	11 (09.09)	19 (12.58)	26 (15.17)
Moon phase	II	III	IV
Recommendations	sowing, weeding, spraying in II and IV phases planting, watering, feeding in phases I and III

Gardening in April: pruning and grafting trees

The most important gardening work in April is tree pruning, but it must be done in time at the very beginning of the month. Start with blackcurrant bushes, gooseberries, and honeysuckle.

Cut the black ends of the branches, rejuvenate the bushes by cutting out the old branches. From the gooseberry, cut out all young shoots growing in the middle of the bush. Leave only those that grow along the edges of the bush. In red and white currants, the tops of the branches are not cut off, but only old branches and those branches that branch into the crown are removed. In honeysuckle, thickening crown or broken branches are cut off, but fruiting or young shoots are not pruned.

Do not rush to prune cherries and plums, wait until freezing after wintering is clearly visible, and even better, leave pruning them for the fall. The same goes for apple trees. After a harsh winter, the ends of the branches could freeze, but some of the branches will be able to recover from the buds on the bark, so do not rush to cut the branches, leave it at the end of summer. The frozen wood 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 get to the place where the cut is light. From this point on, the tissue of the tree is alive and no further cutting is necessary. In general, pears have beige wood, not white, like apple trees. The frozen wood tissue of the pear is brown.

At the beginning of the month, remove spruce branches from young plantings of strawberries, roses, irises, clematis, lilies, especially from oriental hybrids, since under a warm shelter they will quickly grow and their flower buds may freeze during recurrent frosts. But do not rush to remove boxes from roses and clematis.

Besides pruning trees, April is a good time for grafting. At the very beginning of the month, cut the cuttings for grafting, wrap them in newspaper, put them in a plastic bag and dig in the snow from the north side of the house, but so that they are not flooded with melt water. Use them for vaccinations at the end of the month. You can do the same with plant seeds.

In the gardener's calendar for 2017, April is a responsible month. First of all, you need to drain excess water from the site, for which you dig grooves along its slope so that the water flows into the ditch. If there is no slope on the site, then simply lay a shallow groove, gradually deepening it so that the water flows in the direction you want. Stagnation of water is especially dangerous for raspberries, strawberries and clematis.

If the compost heap is in the sun, then you can sow early greens (chervil, watercress, cilantro, parsley, lettuce, spinach, dill) and early carrots, as well as radishes on it. To do this, spill last year's pile of compost with hot water, sprinkle a layer of soil about 7-8 cm thick on top of it, and sow the seeds. I usually do it like this: 1 tsp. I mix seeds with 0.5 cups of sand and sow in the furrows in the same way as salting food. You can use special seeders, in which the hole is adjusted according to the size of the seeds. In this case, the seedlings will not thicken. Cover crops from above with foil until shoots appear. Heat and moisture are retained under it, and seedlings appear faster. Then the film must be removed, otherwise the seedlings may burn under it. If you cover the crops with lutrasil or spunbond, then the covering material can not be removed until the plants grow up. But before sprouting, water the crops directly over the material, if the weather is dry or windy, so that the hatching seeds do not dry out in the upper drying layer of the soil.

In early April, while working in the garden, pre-grow weeds on the vegetable beds, covering them with an old film and securing it so that the wind does not blow away. Weeds will quickly sprout under the film. As soon as they appear, remove the film and loosen the beds, leaving them open for a day. Then cover with plastic foil again and repeat the operation. Now there are no weeds in the top layer of soil in your garden. It is important not to dig up the soil, but only before sowing it, loosen it with a Fokin flat cutter no deeper than 5-6 cm, then make the sowing furrows with the sharp end of the flat cutter.

In the north-west, at the very beginning of the month, while the buds have not yet awakened, to destroy lichens on tree trunks, try to have time to spray with iron vitriol (1 tsp without top per 100 ml of water). In addition, you can also spray against wintering pests with a solution of urea (700 g of substance per 10 liters of water). Spraying should be done along the ends of the branches, along the branches, their forks and skeletal branches, along the trunk and near-trunk circle, along the soil.

Towards the end of April, before fertilizing, spray those plants in which the scales of the buds have moved apart, and a green cone of leaves has appeared, since the first pests lay eggs at this very time in the green cone.

Feed with nitrogen fertilizer (3 tablespoons urea per 10 liters of water) lovage, rhubarb, sorrel. Instead of urea, you can use an infusion of manure or poultry droppings diluted with water 1:10 or 1:20, respectively.

At home, water the tomato and pepper seedlings sparingly so as not to overmoisten the soil. Remember that seedlings need good lighting. In April, a weak solution of "Uniflora-Bud" (1 tsp for 5 liters of water) is recommended as plant nutrition, which should be watered instead of water.

When caring for seedlings in April, do not forget to spray the leaves of tomatoes and eggplants with a very weak solution of a copper preparation (the easiest way is to use copper oxychloride - HOM, dissolving 0.2 tsp powder in 5 liters of water). The solution can stand, you will use it 2 more times about every two weeks. This is a good preventive measure against late blight. But the often recommended spraying with a manganese solution can not be done, since it does not save from late blight, and other diseases rarely appear on tomato seedlings. A solution of potassium permanganate is suitable for spraying pepper, especially if it is annoyed by aphids. Pepper is difficult to protect from aphid attack if there are indoor plants in the same room where the seedlings grow. However, if you have a "Healthy Garden", then use it (6-8 grains of the drug per 1 liter of water). This spraying can be done in the room. It is great for dealing with aphids on any plants in the garden.

Another important event planned in the gardener's calendar for April 2017 is the removal of potatoes from storage. Dip it in hot (45 ° C) water until the water cools. When the water cools down, add potassium permanganate until a bright pink color and hold the tubers in this solution for 15-20 minutes. Then rinse the tubers, dry and lay out on vernalization in a bright and cool place. At the end of April, remove the potatoes in cardboard boxes, sandwich each layer with newspapers, and put the boxes in a warm place so that they will sprout well. You will plant sprouted tubers, thereby accelerating the ripening of the crop by 2 weeks.

Sowing seeds in open ground in April

At the beginning of April, seeds of parsley are sown on greens and bush dill. If you cover these plantings with lutrasil or put arcs over them and stretch the film, then by the first of May there will be the first greenery.

Sowing in open ground in April of seeds of all cold-resistant crops (carrots, lettuce, black onions, dill, parsnips, radishes, cabbage, chervil) can be carried out at the time of flowering coltsfoot, that is, at the end of the month (at northwest). To get early strawberries, cover the bed with a film tunnel on arcs or a double thin lutrasil directly over the bushes.

In mid-April, sow marigolds, marigolds, zinnia, and spurge on seedlings.

At the end of April, the seeds of annuals, which are not afraid of frosts (poppy, escholzia, cosmea, cornflowers, Iberis, catchment, forget-me-nots, marigolds), are sown into the ground in a permanent place. The rest of the 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. Arcs are easy to make yourself from willow twigs, from which you immediately need to remove the bark. Or, place the film on 300-gram plastic bottles filled with water and stuck with their neck into the soil. It is important that the film does not lie on the crops.

At the end of the month, you can remove the shelter from all ornamental plants, except for clematis. It is better to cover their growing shoots, for example, with lutrasil.

As soon as the soil thawed, moles immediately appear (they fill mounds of earth) or their relatives, mole rats (make moves without hills of earth). It is difficult to deal with them, but recently a new drug Alfos-mole has appeared - try using it.

Spring is coming at an increasing speed, in April, gardeners and gardeners will have a lot of work. This article was written to help novice summer residents to properly plan these works. We hope that it will be of interest to gardeners, gardeners, and amateur flower growers.

1. Work in the garden in April.
2. April concerns of flower growers.

What work should be done in April in the garden

Your garden: jobs of the month

Start your April work in the country with deep loosening of the soil. At the same time, apply fertilizers under fruit and berry crops: nitrogen, phosphorus - potassium and organic.

Strongly compacted clayey areas will have to be dug to a depth of 10-15 cm. If melt water lingers in the garden and the soil is excessively moist, dig shallow grooves to drain the water.

Summer subbotniks traditionally take place in April, work is carried out to clean up the garbage accumulated over the winter.

Free the trunks from the winter strapping, uncook the young trees. Remove dead bark from trunks and skeletal branches. Finish pruning fruit tree crowns. Cut out the growth. Coat wounds and large sections with garden varnish.

Pay attention to berry bushes

Perform final pruning of the berry bushes in April. Pluck out the enlarged currant buds infested with the mite.

In mid-April, black currants are propagated by lignified annual cuttings. A stalk 16-18 cm long is cut at the bottom under the kidney itself, at the top - 1-1.5 cm above the kidney. Cuttings are planted in loose, well-prepared soil, obliquely, leaving 1 bud above the ground. Watering, mulching.

In autumn, young cuttings are cut to a height of 10-15 cm, and in the fall of next year they are planted in a permanent place.

Cuttings of red and white currants are cut and planted in early September. Gooseberries are easier to propagate by layering.

Start caring for strawberries with cleaning the plantation from covering materials, last year's leaves, and excess mustaches.

Try to loosen up the aisles early to a depth of 4-5 cm, fix the bushes. Strawberries are very responsive to early loosening. Feed the strawberries with nitrogen fertilizers.

Spray the fungicide abiga-peak (50 g) with the addition of novosil (2 ml) per 10 liters of water.

Cut the raspberries into a well-developed bud. Loosen the soil and fertilize with organic matter mixed with complex mineral fertilizers. Mulch the aisles with compost, humus layer 4-5 cm.

Planting seedlings in April

Plant fruit trees in April, if not in fall. Choose seedlings 1-2 years old, with a good root system, the buds should not bloom yet.

Before planting, soak the seedlings to restore the turgor of the root system, make a clay chatter. Water liberally after planting, mulch the hole with organic matter.

Perform crown pruning of the seedling to restore the connection between the roots and the future crown. If there are side ramifications, trim off the entire aerial part by one third to the outer bud.

Shorten the central conductor 20-30 cm above the level of the skeletal branches. Blind all the kidneys on the stem (40-50 cm).

Be sure to process the garden from diseases and pests in April.

Early spring is an important period for protecting the garden from pests and diseases. The apple flower beetle wakes up first - already during the swelling of the buds. He is still not very active, he cannot fly and climbs into the crown along the trunk. To detain him, put trapping belts on the booms, best of all glue.

How to use trapping belts

Clean the area of \u200b\u200bthe trunk on which the belt is applied from dead bark so that there are no passages for insects under the belt. Make a belt out of thick paper or soft cardboard, burlap and spread it with caterpillar glue.

You can make a belt out of old cotton wool, loosening it a little: insects get stuck in it. Cover the belt with a polyethylene visor to protect it from rain. If caterpillar glue is not available, the belt can be chemically treated.

Apply a belt in the middle or upper part of the trunk, or you can put two.

Late with a belt - shake off the pests!

When the buds begin to bloom, it will be too late to apply the belts. All hibernating beetles will have time to climb into the crown. All that remains is to shake them off onto the litter early in the morning, when the air temperature is no higher than 10 degrees.

Before the buds come out, shake off 3-4 times. But only those gardeners who come to the dacha not only on weekends can do this. The rest will have to use chemical remedies.

At the beginning of bud opening (phase of the “green cone”), the larvae of aphids, honey beetles, leafworm caterpillars, winter moths, cherry moths, weevils, trubovert and other pests gather on the buds.

Pest and disease control chemicals

In April, trees and berry bushes can be sprayed with fufanon or spark, or kemifos (10 ml per 10 l of water), or alatar (5 ml). Treat currants against red-gall aphids and diseases with kinmix (2.5 ml) + topaz (2 ml).

If the trees in your garden were affected by scab, moniliosis, cluster sporiasis (cherries, plums, apricots), spray it very effectively with a 3% Bordeaux mixture (300 g of copper sulfate + 400 g of lime per 10 liters of water) at this time.

On open leaves, apply only 1% Bordeaux mixture. Instead, other fungicides can be applied on the leaves - chorus, skor, gamair, raek.

In the third decade of April, spray raspberries against aphids, moths and other pests with fufanon (10 ml) with the addition of estrasol (10 ml) or novosil (3 ml).

In the second decade of April, spray peaches against moniliosis and leaf curl with Abiga-peak (40 g per 10 l of water) over the "green cone".

At the end of the month, before flowering, spray seed crops with a biostimulant (novosil or extrasol) to increase resistance to adverse conditions (frost, etc.).

To improve the keeping quality of fruits and their resistance to rot, carry out foliar dressing with a solution of calcium nitrate (50 g) with the addition of extrasol

What works await gardeners in April

Vegetable garden: jobs of the month

Cooking an early harvest

The earlier you start the gardening season, the more you will do in the spring, the richer the harvest you will get. Many summer residents after winter come to the site for the first time in April. Naturally, the first thing we do is examine the beds: like garlic, the onion sets planted in late autumn overwintered.

If for the winter they threw the beds with these crops with leaves, grass, we remove everything so that the soil warms up faster, loosen it, add nitrogen fertilizers (a tablespoon of urea per square meter).

If there are heads of garlic left at home after winter, we plant it as early as possible. It makes no sense to store further, and in the ground the teeth will form large single-tooth bulbs, which will fit both in the kitchen and for planting in winter. We plant in April and onion sets.

We clean the areas where perennials grow from plant debris (onions, chives, asparagus, rhubarb), loosen the soil.

We cover the beds with foil

If at the beginning of April there is not enough warmth, you can cover the beds with foil or non-woven material on arcs - we will get the first greens faster. It is better to use a new film: through it the sun will warm the soil faster. But if the old film is still strong, rinse it properly. We remove the shelter in warm weather.

In April, we need to get rid of the rhubarb on the garden bed, we feed it with complex mineral fertilizer for spring application.

If there is a desire to plant a bush, we take the cuttings from the periphery of the bush. There the buds are stronger and, therefore, will give life to more productive plants. And they shoot later.

You can do the same with an overgrown lovage bush.

Sorrel can be fed with a weak solution of nitrogen fertilizers (0.5 teaspoon of urea or ammonium nitrate per sq. M).

If the sorrel grows well, then we do not feed it in order to protect ourselves from nitrates. Leaves that have grown to 10 cm can already be cut or plucked.

If the sorrel bed is more than one year old, in April it's time to sow it in another place - to replace it. At the beginning of summer, we will harvest leaves from young plants, and dig up the old bed.

Cold-resistant plants should be sown in April

We do not postpone sowing of other cold-resistant crops for May:

• salad
• spinach
• dill
• parsley
• carrots
• parsnips
• chard
• arugula
• japanese cabbage
• radish

While it is not hot, in the soil moistened with snow and rain water, they will rise more amicably and faster.

Polka dots. Do not forget to sow brain peas in April. It's hard to find a better treat at the beginning of summer than sweet peas for kids. The peas sown in May sprout worse and finish blooming and fruiting faster.

With sowing seeds for seedlings in beds covered with foil, it is better not to rush. First let the weed seeds germinate. On beds covered with foil, weeds begin to sprout in 2-3 days. By loosening the soil, we will significantly facilitate the life of garden plants, which we sow for seedlings for an early harvest.

Cabbage. In mid-April (weather permitting) we plant seedlings of all kinds of cabbage in the beds - white cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, kohlrabi, Peking, Brussels sprouts. Lettuce seedlings will not be afraid of temporary cold snaps. In case of a sharp cold snap, these beds can always be found with something to cover.

Asparagus. We huddle the bed with asparagus (20-25 cm high) with earth or a mixture of earth and compost, humus to get bleached shoots. You can simply add humus, compost, sawdust.

We level the surface of the embankment, lightly tamp it in order to notice the shoots making their way through the soil layer in time. Already in April, you can prepare an asparagus salad, an omelet or a soup. Children enjoy eating fresh asparagus, comparing their taste to green peas.

We plant potatoes

Do not postpone planting potato tubers. If the weather is warm, do not wait until the tubers laid out for germination give sprouts and roots at home: it is better to place them in a permanent place - in a garden bed.

Small potato areas can be covered with foil or non-woven material: the potatoes will sprout faster. 1-2 weeks "saved" in spring will have a positive effect not only on the timing, but also on the quality and quantity of the harvest.

Before planting, we discard tubers with rot spots, filamentous sprouts. We do not plant potatoes in the plots that it occupied in previous years, and next to the beds allocated for planting tomatoes.

Sow herbs

At the end of the month, you can sow herbs on the beds:

• basil
• melissa
• thyme
• snakehead
• marjoram
• hyssop.

They will take up little space, but they will bring great benefits: both to the plants on the site, protecting from pests, and to us, giving a unique taste and aroma to drinks, meat and fish dishes, marinades and pickles.

After sowing, it is advisable to cover the beds with a non-woven material, paper, in order to retain moisture in the soil until shoots appear. We use the film for these purposes only if we visit the country every day and have the opportunity to remove it in the event of a sharp warming.

Our spring is unpredictable, and in April it can be hot: under the film, tender seedlings will burn up in a matter of minutes. We won't even find traces of them.

Don't forget about pests

In April, it is already necessary to take measures to protect garden plants. Radishes, cabbage, watercress, mustard can be harmed by a cruciferous flea. We dust the crops with sifted wood ash, install glue traps. Loosening the soil and the same wood ash will help against cruciferous flies.

Some summer residents, in order to protect cabbage and radishes from pests, grow them under a thin non-woven material on arcs, pressing it tightly to the soil.

We take care of the soil

In an effort to sow and plant faster, let's not forget to take a rake through the beds dug up since autumn. If this is not done while the soil is wet, then you will have to spend several times more effort to level the beds, and the beneficial spring moisture will be irretrievably lost.

The soil, ready for processing, does not stick to the rake, but crumbles, without forming large lumps. In low, shaded places, we cultivate the soil last, letting it dry out so as not to compact.

We remove from the site all the plant debris left over from the last season, and lay it in layers in the compost heap, sprinkling each layer with soil or humus, compost. If we moisten the heap regularly, the compost will mature by autumn.

At the beginning of April, you can still sow fast-growing green manures (mustard, phacelia) in the beds set aside for planting seedlings of solanaceous crops (tomatoes, peppers, eggplants).

Fight the weeds

When preparing the beds for planting, we carefully select the rhizomes of wheatgrass, sow thistle, field bindweed and other perennial weeds from the soil. In a week we will return to these beds in order to pull out the weeds that have appeared from the ground.

Wheatgrass is persistent in its desire to master all the new beds of the garden, but we will be more persistent than it, and weed wheatgrass, sow thistle without the help of herbicides.

What work needs to be done in April in greenhouses

In early April, the greenhouse should be ready for planting tomato or cucumber seedlings. If the greenhouse is film, it is better to cover it with a new film, if it is glass, wash the glass thoroughly. We fertilize the soil with organic matter (up to a bucket of compost or humus) or complex fertilizers for spring application (up to two tablespoons per square meter).

What to sow in the greenhouse

Radish. Early radish varieties can be sown as a catch crop. Although it is cold-resistant, it will form root crops faster under the film. We immediately try to sow the seeds at the right distance from each other in order to provide the plants with sufficient illumination and feeding area without thinning.

After 10-15 cm from each other we make sowing grooves, spill them with hot water and after 3-4 cm from each other we lay out the seeds. If we doubt the quality of the seeds (old, frail in appearance), we sow more often - after 1-2 cm,

If the radish grows thickly, you will have to thin out, otherwise we will not harvest the crop, but admire the flowering of the radish, The depth of seeding is about 1.5 cm.

We do not open the greenhouse until the shoots appear: the warmer, the faster the radish will sprout. But after germination, the temperature in the greenhouse will have to be contained by constant ventilation: otherwise, the radish will develop powerful tops, but frail roots.

During the formation of root crops, regular watering is very important for radish: the soil should be constantly moderately moist. Interruptions in watering give rise to defects in root crops: they crack.

Dill, garlic, onion. You can sparsely scatter dill seeds in the greenhouse, plant chives and onion heads in the aisles of future beds. These crops will not be removed from the greenhouse completely, even after the cucumbers or tomatoes have grown. They will help maintain a healthy microclimate in the greenhouse.

Spinach. Spinach is considered a good neighbor and predecessor to most vegetable crops. It can also be planted as a catch crop not only in open beds, but also in a greenhouse, and the sooner the better.

April, with its not yet very long daylight hours, is a great time to get vitamin leaves.

To determine the timing of planting different crops, use the "blooming tips":

• The first crocuses (yellow) bloomed - you can sow chives, leeks, and in a few days the rest of the cold-resistant crops.
• The birch has turned green in the sun - it's time to plant potato tubers for summer consumption, onion sets.
• The flowering of early daffodils will tell you that you can already sow a salad, plant cabbage seedlings in the beds, sow beets.
• Lilac bloomed violently - you can sow early cucumbers.
• Buds on peonies formed and became clearly visible, viburnum bloomed - the soil warmed up enough for sowing late cucumbers, corn, melons and gourds.

April works of florists

Your flower garden: work of the month.

A lot of work awaits gardeners in early April. It is necessary to have time to trim trees and shrubs, airing winter shelters, protect plants from sunburn, sow seedlings, take care of perennials and lawns.

Pruning trees in spring

The crown of fruit trees and shrubs must be cut between the snow melt and the moment the buds swell. Some gardeners underestimate spring pruning. In fact, this is a very important matter. Thanks to banal pruning, you can improve the quality of fruits and the yield of trees, as well as regulate their growth.

The amount of pruning depends on the age of the trees and shrubs. The frequency of pruning is also important. If you have resorted to it from time to time, then you have to tinker a lot.

Airing

Airing hydrangeas, roses, and other thermophilic plants that are sheltered for the winter should be started in mid or late March. It all depends on the weather conditions. For ventilation, it is necessary to choose sunny days with freezing temperatures. The cover that protects the plantings must first be raised a little and only over time increase the availability of fresh air. Sheltered plantings should gradually get used to the new temperature regime so that they do not experience stress.

Protection against sunburn and frost

In early spring, plants are at high risk of sunburn. This is especially true for conifers. They have burns, as a rule, appear only on the open part of the crown, which faces the sun and is undisguised by snow. After a burn, the needles turn red, often occupying most of the crown. To prevent this from happening, do not be lazy to throw snow from the paths onto the bare part of the alpine slide. Spruce branches are suitable for tall conifers, which cannot be covered with snow. It must be fixed on the plant in tiers from the bottom up.

Lawn care in spring

For the beginning of March, an alternation of frost and thaw is typical. Such weather conditions are dangerous for lawns. Snow that melted in the sun with the arrival of night frosts is easily covered with an ice crust, which complicates the access of air to the lawn. Due to the fact that the snow has not completely melted, unpleasant bald spots may appear on the lawn. To prevent this from happening, break the ice crust as it appears.

Perennial care in spring

Perennials should be given special attention when the snow has completely melted. It is necessary to remove dead shoots and leaves from the plantings. You should also regularly carry out prophylaxis to combat diseases and pests of perennials.

Sowing seedlings

Sowing seedlings is another important thing for a summer resident in early spring. An excellent time for sowing many annuals is the third decade of March. Keep in mind that the soil for seedlings can have a different composition, but it must be fresh, that is, not previously used for growing plants. You should not fry and overheat the soil, since this process also kills the necessary

List of works in the country in April

In April, in the bright sun, the last snow melts, the earth begins to dry up, the first flowers appear, and the first leaves appear on the trees. The garden comes alive.

This month, you can already enjoy the autumn plantings that have safely survived the winter and remove winter shelters (spruce branches, a thick layer of dry leaves) so that the plants have the opportunity to develop further - in the fresh air and sunlight.

Consider the climate in your area: if you remove the shelters too early, you can cause irreparable damage to the plants.

Signs of April

If at the beginning of April the surface of the snow is rough - by the harvest.

Thunderstorm in early April - for a warm summer and the harvest of nuts.

April with water - May with grass.

Wet April is good arable land.

Works on the lunar calendar for April

Waxing Crescent. It is not recommended to prune trees and bushes. Favorable time for watering and applying mineral fertilizers, sowing tomato seedlings, early ripening varieties of pepper. Good time for loosening seedlings and working indoors, grafting fruit trees and bushes.

Full moon... At this time, you should not sow, plant or transplant, cut anything. You can check your garden tools.

Waning moon. At this time, you can put potato tubers in a warm room for germination, in the trunk circles of fruit trees and shrubs and on strawberry beds, fertilize with melting snow. Remove shelter from trees, shrubs and perennial flowers.

List of works in the garden for April

In April, for the prevention of fungal diseases (scab, septoria), it is recommended to treat the tree trunks of fruit trees with a solution of urea (700 g), ammonium nitrate (1 kg) or nitroammofoska (1 kg), diluted in 10 liters of water.

April is a good time to remove dried pears, apples, plums, cherries from the site, as they are the source of most fungal diseases.

Shrubs can be treated with copper sulfate.

Sowing vegetables in April

In April, they begin sowing seeds of cold-resistant crops into the soil.

In early April, they continue to sprout potatoes, regularly checking them for diseases. A week before planting, the tubers are laid in one layer and covered with compost or sawdust. The filled potatoes will sprout faster. But it is not worth keeping potatoes under peat for a long time, as they form roots that can intertwine with each other and will be injured during planting.

Approximately 4 days before planting, the potatoes are sprayed with a special nutrient solution (1.5 tbsp. L. Superphosphate, 1 tbsp. L. Potassium sulfate per 10 l of water).

Potatoes are planted when the soil warms up to +8 ° C.

❧ The planting time of potatoes can be determined by the birch trees. As soon as the trees start to turn green, then you can plant potatoes.

At the beginning of the month, they start sowing radishes, peas, dill, seedless cabbage, lettuce, rhubarb, carrots, leaf celery, parsnips.

First of all, you need to sow radishes, since due to the lengthening of daylight hours there is a possibility of the vegetable shooting. Spinach is sown on the same garden bed with radish. It will help protect root vegetables from damage by cruciferous flea beetles.

Next to the radish, you can place beds with onions and garlic. Radish is a good precursor to cucumber. Radishes are best sown after nightshade crops, cucumbers, and beans.

In the middle of the month, you can start sowing beets if the soil temperature is + 8-10 degrees. In this situation, seedlings will appear in 2 weeks.

At the same time, Swiss chard (beetroot) is sown. This plant can be cut for a long time and used for making salads, soups and cabbage rolls (photo).

Favorable time for planting black onions. Seedlings, which appear after 3-4 weeks, are thinned out. By the end of summer, the onions yield a good harvest.

When planting carrots, the beds can be slightly thickened. After the roots reach 1 cm in thickness, the excess is pulled out and used for food. Those who remain by the end of the season will gain weight and volume.

The garlic left over from the winter is planted in the beds. It grows more slowly than the one that was planted in the fall, but as a result it reaches the same size. In April, they are engaged in laying out the beds, taking into account the compatibility of crops. Perennial crops are sown taking into account the fact that the areas occupied by sorrel and rhubarb will be excluded from the crop rotation for a couple of years. In April, they continue to grow seedlings, which were planted earlier, the seedlings dive, apply top dressing.

In the middle of the month, you can start hardening early cabbage seedlings. Mid-season varieties are planted in open ground at the end of April. At the same time, seedlings of peppers, tomatoes and eggplants are hardened.

Bush care in April

In April, you should inspect blackcurrant and gooseberry bushes for twisted tops of branches - they need to be cut and burned, these are traces of powdery mildew.

When the snow melts, the shrubs are pruned, if not done in the fall. Weak, diseased and broken branches are cut out. In gooseberries, red and white currants, all branches are cut out over 8 years old, in black currants - over 4 years old. If the currants have shoots affected by a kidney mite, they are also cut and burned.

Raspberry branches are released, dry and weak young shoots are removed. Healthy shoots are lifted and tied to trellises.

Works in the flower garden in April

It is important to take care of the roses in April. Shelters are removed from them gradually, the bushes are cut, fed, treated for diseases and pests. First of all, urea or ammonium nitrate (20 g per 10 l of water) is added. Bushes spud at the base of the stems. With the threat of night frosts, the growing shoots are sheltered.

In April, they continue to look after flower seedlings. Every 10 days it is watered with settled water, mineral fertilizers are applied. In the second half of April, you can take out seedlings for hardening.

At the beginning of the month, the last crops are sown on annual seedlings. Flowers such as marigolds, sweet peas, nasturtium, zinnia are sown subject to the interval between seeds (3-4 cm). Cover with a film. After the threat of frost passes, the seedlings can be transplanted to a permanent place in the flower garden.

Perennial flowers (aquilegia, Gaillardia, carnation, delphinium, bells, cornflower) are sown in the greenhouse as soon as the soil warms up.

In early April, it is important to open the seedlings. The first time the March crops dive, the second - the February crops. At the end of the month, you can sow and dive plants in a semi-warm or cold greenhouse.

A complex mineral fertilizer with a high nitrogen content is introduced. First, the March crops are fed. The first time after 7-10 days after the pick, the second - after 14 days.

Do not forget to feed bulbous and perennials (phlox, irises, hemerocalis, astilbe, hosta, primrose, lilies of the valley, daffodils, hyacinths, crocuses, scilla, snowdrops, muscari, etc.). A mixture of nitrogen and potash fertilizers (2: 1) is introduced.

April is the time when you can divide peonies, irises, hemerocalis, asthba, phlox, delphinium, chrysanthemum, etc. Peonies begin to divide after the soil has completely thawed. Irises in the spring of dealers in a short time, i.e. until they entered a phase of active growth. Phloxes, hemerocalis, astilbe, delphiniums, chrysanthemums can be divided in more extended periods. However, they will take root better if they are divided before active growth begins.

In April, you can divide the root tubers of the dahlias and put them in a warm place for growing. After the appearance of sprouts 5-7 cm high, some of them are cut into cuttings and planted in a pot filled with fertile soil and clean sand. The pot is placed in a bright place at a temperature of +20 ° C.

Conifers can be planted in the second half of April. They try to plant so as not to damage the earthen lump, the root collar is left on. soil level. The planted trees are abundantly watered and shaded.

After the soil thaws, dries up and warms up, a plot is prepared for sowing annual crops (cornflowers, godetia, dimorphoteka, iberis, poppy, mattiola, mignonette, scabiosa, phlox, calendula, gypsophila, levkoy, sunflower, statice, clarkia, lavatera, eschsholzia , foxglove, purslane). If the soil was not fertilized in the fall, then superphosphate (50 g / m2) and potassium sulfate (25 g / m2) are added and dug up to a depth of 18 cm.

In the second decade of the month, perennials (aquilegia, Gaillardia, feathery carnation, delphinium, bells, cornflower and feverfew) can be sown in the greenhouse. The air temperature for germinating seeds is + 15-22 degrees.

At the beginning of April, begonia tubers are removed from the basement, cleaned of dried roots and earth residues and placed in a 0.05% solution of potassium permanganate for 30 minutes. Large tubers with buds are cut into several parts with a sharp knife so that each part has 1 bud. Places of cuts are treated with charcoal, after which the plants are planted in an earthen mixture and put up for growing. Begonias grow well at temperatures not lower than +18 ° C. Drying of begonias should not be allowed.

Vineyard maintenance in April

At the beginning of the month, as soon as the soil dries up and the air temperature does not drop to -10 ° C, the grape bushes can be opened. First of all, this applies to land shelters on chernozem and loamy soils. If the grapes were covered with peat, pine needles or sawdust, they are harvested before the eyes swell.

In early April, organic and mineral fertilizers are introduced into the grooves, and then they are sprinkled with earth. You can also add liquid top dressing combined with watering.

Bunches of vines must be attached to the trellis without undoing. The vines are cleaned of soil and plant debris.

If the bushes were affected last year, it is time to spray to prevent diseases and pests. It is recommended to use nitrafen (200-300 g per 10 liters of water). Grapes are processed at a temperature of + 4-5 ° C.

If you have removed the cover from the grapes and noticed that it is covered with a white mold, do not be alarmed - after a couple of hours, the plaque will disappear.

In the second half of April, when the probability of frost is low, a dry garter is made. The sleeves are tied obliquely, and the fruit arrows horizontally, slightly bending the ends in an arc. If the bush is formed correctly, the fruit arrows will fill the first wire evenly, without overlapping each other.

In the middle of the month, you can plant lignified grape seedlings.

Other works in April

In addition to the main work, cuttings are harvested in April for grafting ornamental shrubs. The cuttings are wrapped in a wet cloth, then placed in cellophane and laid on the ground on the north side of any building.

In April, you can start pruning shrubs.

If there is a reservoir on the site, then it will be reactivated.

The lawn is tidied up with a heavy rake, damaged areas are repaired with turf, and nitrogen fertilizers are applied. At the end of April, the lawn can be mowed.

They are shifting this year in many regions of Russia by about a couple of weeks, since spring is late, and the soil in the gardens is still under snow. In the afternoon, the temperature can rise to 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 forks of branches from damage to the bark resulting from sunburn, improper pruning and breakage. These injuries, as well as injuries 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 varnish or a mixture of mullein and clay.

After the snow melts and the soil dries out, last year's leaves are scooped out from under the trees and sent to the compost heap. From the remaining infection, the soil is treated with solutions of mineral fertilizers: nitrophoska, ammonium nitrate, ammonium sulfate at the rate of 1 kg per 10 liters of water or 0.5 kg of urea per 10 liters of water. A bucket of solution is treated with an area of \u200b\u200b40 sq. m.

The trees affected after winter are fed by adding urea to the near-trunk circle (20 g per 1 sq. M). It is thrown directly onto damp soil. When the soil dries up, it is loosened to a depth of 6 - 8 cm and mulched with humus with a layer of 10 cm. Before the sap flow begins, in order to form the crown, trees are pruned.

Before the buds swell, you need to have time to process the trees to destroy wintering pests (caterpillars of the moth, ringed and gypsy moth, aphid eggs, etc.). The treatment is carried out with a 3% Bordeaux liquid (400 g of freshly slaked lime and 300 g of copper sulfate per 10 liters of water).

In the work at the dacha in April, mixtures of fungicides and insecticides should be included and the plants should be treated with them, if pests and diseases are simultaneously manifested on vegetable and berry crops, on fruit trees. For this, a solution is prepared: in 10 liters of water, either trichlorometaphos-3 (20 g), or chlorophos (20 g), or karbofos (30 g) are diluted together with polycarbacin (40 g) or with copper oxychloride (30 g), or with zinebom (40 g), or with sulfur preparations (40 - 50 g).

These chemical elements are compatible with each other and can be diluted in any proportion.
Work in April at the dacha includes grafting of fruit trees. The apple tree is grafted only on the apple tree, and the pear - on the pear, red mountain ash, hawthorn, irga. At the same time, before the buds swell, cherries and plums are pruned. The branches growing inside the crown are removed, as well as broken and diseased ones. If the bush is more than 10 years old, then anti-aging pruning is performed.

After winter, if the whitewashing of the trees has suffered, then it should be updated. This can be done with milk of lime by dissolving 100 g of copper sulfate and 1 kg of fresh lime in 10 liters of water, and the whole crown can be sprayed with plums and cherries. April dacha work includes planting seedlings. Two-year-old offspring are best suited for this. Root seedlings are buried at a depth of 20 cm from the soil surface.

April is the time for 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, during the formation of a bush, only 3 - 4 strongest basal shoots should be left annually. The remaining annual shoots are cut out, and the remaining ones are shortened for better branching.

In gooseberries and red currants, old 8 - 10 year old low-fruiting branches are cut out, and in black currant - 5 - 6 year old branches. On black currants, branches with swollen buds, in which the bud mite is located, should be removed. You should also cut out branches damaged by cushion, stem gall midge and glass beads.

If the branches are badly damaged, then they need to be cut to the ground. After cutting, the plants are treated with a 3% solution of Bordeaux liquid and a 2% solution of nitrophene to destroy hibernating pests. All branches cut from plants are burned. To obtain layering, pinning of currant and gooseberry shoots is done.

After the snow melts, the work at the dacha in April includes the inspection and untie the raspberry bushes. The damaged branches are cut off, deepening the secateurs a couple of centimeters into the ground so that the stump does not stick out. The undamaged stems are cut to one-seventh of the length, and the stems affected by frost are cut to a healthy bud. Plants are not tied up immediately, they do it only after a couple of weeks, allowing the plants to straighten.

Brown leaves are removed from strawberry beds. In this case, you should try to remove the entire stem of the leaf. They are adjusted in height by raising or lowering the heart of the plant. Spray with a 10% solution of Bordeaux liquid for diseases and garlic infusion or karbofos (20-30 g per 10 l of water) from a weevil. Then nitrogen fertilizers are applied, 30 g per 1 sq. m of urea or ammonium nitrate, and loosened.

In case of spring frosts, prepare material for smoke heaps.
Only after completing everything work in the country in April you can count on a high yield on your site.