T.S. Eliot wrote, “April is the cruellest month.”  In the midst of flu season and the occasional snowstorm and one disastrous ice storm, April can indeed seem cruel. But gardeners never lose hope. That great April hope lies in the feel of the sun on your face and the sweet smell of soil. April is indeed the beginning of spring.

Hardy little tulips poke their heads out on the sunny side of the house, but those planted away from the sun are watching the weather.  You can gauge how close spring is by the Trilliums. They may poke a nose or two out if you look closely but never really come up until spring is certain. Native plants know how cruel April can be. 

April, the true beginning of the outdoor gardening year, comes with many things to do.  Here are some of the things I plan do this month.

House plants will begin to actively grow as the sunlight strengthens and lengthens.  It’s a good time to start feeding them on a monthly basis – or weakly weekly.  They also might enjoy a repotting. Check their roots to see if they are crowding the pot.  If the roots are circling the bottom of the pot, they definitely need to be replanted into a bigger pot.

The Poinsettia display that Kelly gave me before Christmas – three gorgeous red plants in one big pot—needs to be cut back this month.  I will seriously prune each of the three plants in the Christmas gift pot, water them well and put the plants under lights.  Then I’ll watch the progress. The first plant to put up new growth will be the one I repot and grow on for next fall.

Those veggie seeds I plan to start indoors need to be sown by the second week of April to be ready to plant out in late May.  Our last frost date here in Barrie could be any day between May 16 to May 26.  Seeding six to eight weeks before they can be hardened off and set outside is a good rule of thumb.

On a nice sunny day sometime in April, I will tackle the garden shed. There are things to get rid of and things to sort, and things that didn’t get cleaned last fall.  The snowblower needs to be put in its summer place, and all the little tools should be checked and made ready for May work. The spade and shovels and also my trowels need to be sharpened -- the better to dig with, my dear.  Jobs that I neglected last fall will have to be done this spring!

As soon as the soil has thawed, I have some perennials to lift and divide.  Extra pieces of perennials can be planted in the new garden area where the pond used to be.  Veggie seeds can also be planted. 

This summer, I’ll try to get some gardening help this year – one person for a morning every other week.  He/she will work mainly on the front fighting creeping campanula and the suckers that arise from the crab apple tree and the tansy in the boulevard bed.  One big job will be to renovate the boulevard garden and make it a once-a-year maintenance project by eliminating plants that need lots of care.  The space will become a wild garden for insects to use.

If I can find a source for corn gluten meal, I’ll add it to the bit of grass on Kirk’s side of the boulevard for a quick nitrogen boost. And I’ll remember to resist the temptation to sow grass seed for a least 6 weeks after applying corn gluten meal. Corn gluten inhibits the germination of seeds – a good thing for preventing weed seeds on the boulevard from germinating, but a bad thing for grass seed.

My helper (if I can find one) will tidy up the front and clean up the branches that came down during the winter.  I’m 82 going on 83 and find many things that I used to do impossible for me now so will appreciate a helper with a bendable back and reliable knees.

Even though I can't plant yet, I should start gardening now making chicken wire panels to put around the veggie boxes to keep the rabbit and the chipmunks and squirrels away from the seedlings.

And on nice mornings, I plan to walk in the garden to see what has popped up overnight.  I’ll look for Corydalis ‘George Baker’ and for signs of trilliums, for the flat leaves of daffodils and the early growth on the honeysuckle, for the big leaves of colchicums and the small leaves of Lesser Celandine.
Hurray -- it’s April!