Gardening updates for April?

[CathyA]

Not much going on in my garden. I did plant snow peas this morning. But it's been so consistently rainy that it's pretty much too wet out there for anything. I tried to dry out the soil for the snow peas.....not sure it will work.
If you try to work in even slightly wet soil, it turns into cement.

I did buy 2 more stock tanks. One is 6' long and is for Roma tomatoes in the garden. The 4' long one is in the back yard with the other 6' long stock tanks.
I've been focusing more on my water gardens.........cleaning them out, cleaning the pumps, trying to make a little waterfall in one, trying different sized tubes, etc. Have about 6 large tadpoles in there. I hope the snakes leave them alone.

Transplanted some of my Joe Pye weed to where it would get more sun. Joe Pye weed is probably one of the best plants to attract butterflies. My Dutchman's pipevines are coming back to life. I hope I have pipevine swallowtails butterflies this year.

Bought some onion sets and various lettuce/spinach/chard seed to plant soon.

So what are you up to in your gardens/yards?

[catherine]

Last year when we were raised bed newbies, we bought a Home Depot kit, which was like putting Lincoln Logs together--so easy! This year, DH built a raised bad, and it is ten time sturdier and half the price.

Yesterday I bought a bunch of seeds: green beans, arugula, lettuce, chard, radishes, cilantro, basil, cucumber--we're planting those today.

I have to also clean up my front yard flower garden. It's a mess, and the rabbits ate my tulips again.

For my birthday, BIL bought me onion sets and a blueberry bush, and DH bought me horseradish, so I have to plant those as well, but I think that will be next weekend's project.

[Chicken lady]

yesterday I finished planting the last raspberry canes for the year - still have one bed that needs to be cleaned out/cut back.

We also planted 60 trees - we cut deadwood for heat and try to replace the cut trees with quality natives, plus we are clearing the invasive honeysuckle and replacing with flowering native understory for beauty/erosion control a little more every year when the soil and water conservation district has their tree sale.

The first group of tomato seedlings needs to be potted up and I am trying to weed and prep garden beds on days it is dry enough. like you I should be planting but there is no point in mud.

I saw the first strawberry flowers this morning and the apple and cherry trees are gorgeous.

[bae]

[catherine]

bae, those are just the kind of pergolas I want. The ones I see available for purchase are not rustic enough. Did you make yours yourself?

Beautiful pics.

[bae]

Those are hand-made from mostly-on-site materials over the years. We have a nearly infinite supply of great driftwood, if you are patient Just The Right Piece will wash up sooner or later.

[CathyA]

catherine....be careful with the horseradish.......it really likes to spread!

I can't have tulips either. I planted a whole bunch of them one year, and I think the mice ate all the bulbs. So now I stick with just daffodils.....which everyone seems to leave alone.

My stock tanks (Behlen food grade poly tanks) are up on cement blocks, so I won't have to even lean over!

Chickenlady.......we struggle with japanese honeysuckle bushes that have taken over most of our 35 acres. The only thing we can do now is clear them from small areas that are important to us. It's a real bummer that they have taken over so aggressively.......but at least they provide shelter for animals. The man who originally owned this property (40 years ago) bought many honeysuckle bushes from the DNR and planted them. Had we known how bad they were, we would have pulled them all out when we first bought the place in l982. Now they are unstoppable. We probably have thousands of those bushes here.

And keep your eye on those raspberries.........The original owner planted a small group of them, and they are almost as numerous now as the honeysuckle...but grow very tiny berries.
Wow..........60 trees? Cool! What kinds did you plant? We've planted a bunch here, but have to protect them with fencing until they are pretty big because of the deer.
I planted 2 persimmons about 10 years ago, and now they are sending up tons of runners, which is good.
I try to plant pines/firs/spruces whenever I find smaller ones. The original owner planted several groves of black walnut trees, and now they are everywhere too. At least they're native! It's fun seeing what's growing up new each year (besides the invasives). haha

I would love to build a large fruit cage and grow some blackberries and blueberries. Its all so much fun!

[Ali]

Small garden in the UK ... We sold our old wooden patio furniture and bought new fake rattan (much, much nicer that it sounds) and a black and white damask outdoor rug. The Mr bought a new bbq, we replanted the wall round our patio so instead of trying unsuccessfully to grow herbs (now in pots) we have slabs to sit on with ground cover planting in between. Our next job is to move the raised beds we grow veg in and replace the water butts .... So far, much of this has been funded by selling off what we de cluttered from the garage.

[cdttmm]

Two projects today:

1) Moving my succulents that I overwintered inside to the deck so that they can soak in the rain tomorrow.

2) Building a new beehive. It's taking longer than expected and I'm missing a few pieces so it won't be finished today. But it has me outside enjoying the sunshine so that's a plus.

Not much happening on the veggie or flower gardening front just yet. Our snow finally melted last week.

[Chicken lady]

CathyA, the raspberries are fine - I put them along fences - on one side of the fence are goats, which keep everything nice and short as far outside of the fence as they can reach, and on the other side of the fence is a mowed area. If they spread across the mowed area, they will eventually hit another fence and more goats. I really don't care if what gets mowed between the fences is grass, raspberries, dandelions, or escaped mint, as long as we can mow it and walk on it. around here anything you don't tend will be an impenetrable tangle of wild blackberries, poison ivy, young maples and honeysuckle in three years. Without the goats and the brush hog on the tractor, I would probably give up.

We planted redbud, dogwood, linden, pecan, hazelnut, spruce, willow, and a yard ginko for dh. Osage orange, sycamore, black walnuts, maple, locust, sassafras, and oak plant themselves, along with a few cherry and cedar. All the ashes are dying from the emerald ash borer, so that is mostly what we will be burning for the next ten years.