• Plant seeds of cool season vegetables (peas, lettuce, spinach and radishes…) as soon as garden soil is workable.
• Check out over 55 different vegetable / herb fact sheets produced by USU Extension.
• Consider planting peas in the garden every 2-3 weeks (until early May) to extend the harvest.
• Click here for more information about how to plant and harvest asparagus.
• Click here for more information about how to plant and harvest rhubarb.
• Mechanically control young garden weeds by hoeing or hand pulling.
• Protect fruit blossoms and tender garden plants from late freezing temperatures. Click here for critical temperatures in fruit.
• If storing bulbs, check the bulb’s condition to ensure they are firm, removing any soft or rotten bulbs.
• If locally available, plant bare root trees and shrubs, keeping the exposed roots moist until planted.
• Wait to prune roses until after buds begin to swell to avoid late frosts damaging new growth.
• Prune spring flowering shrubs (those that bloom before June) after they have bloomed to encourage new flower buds for next season.
• Divide crowded, fall-blooming perennials.
• Divide cool season ornamental grasses when new growth begins to emerge.
• Apply chelated iron (FeEDDHA) to plants with prior problems with Iron Chlorosis.
• Use organic (wood chips or bark) mulches to retain soil moisture around shrubs and trees.
• Plant a tree to Celebrate National Arbor Day. The USU Tree Browser offers an interactive list of tree species adapted to the Intermountain West.
• Apply pre-emergent herbicides in late March – mid April to control annual weeds in your lawn (crabgrass, spurge…).
• Click here for information on planting a lawn.
• In compacted sites, aerate with hollow core aerator when turfgrass is actively growing (April – June).
• Check sprinkler systems for leaks, clean filters, fix and align heads.

Pests and Problems:

• Download ‘Utah Home Orchard Pest Management Guide’.
• Learn about common problems in: apples, peaches and nectarines, cherries, pears, plums or apricots.
• Reduce chemical use to promote beneficial insects in your landscape.
• Treat for Coryneum blight in stone fruits (cherries, peaches, nectarines, apricots and plums) at shuck split (approximately 10 days after flower petals drop).
• Treat for powdery mildew on apples beginning when leaves are emerging (at 1/2 inch green) until June.
• Monitor wet weather during bloom in apples, pears and hawthorns to determine whether to treat for Fire blight.
• Treat fruit trees for cat facing insects (stink bugs…) to prevent dimples and pucker marks in fruit trees.
• Preventative control for Peach twig borer in peaches, nectarines and apricots helps reduce twig and fruit damage later in the season. For specific timing see http://utahpests.usu.edu/ipm/.
• Control spring flying bark beetles in pine trees and other conifers.
• Protect birch trees previously infested by the Bronze birch borer by applying a systemic pesticides.
• Watch for Cutworm damage in turfgrass and new vegetable starts.

Download April checklist >>>