By Lara Fominoff @LaraFominoff on Twitter

Warmer weather in April means pruning, fertilizing and clearing away leaves for avid gardeners

Apr 3, 2019 | 3:57 PM

LETHBRIDGE – This time last year, snow was still on the ground, the soil was frozen, and there was zero possibility for planting anything outdoors, with temperatures ranging from plus one-degree Celsius, to minus 13-degrees Celsius.

With milder temperatures so far this month, and daytime highs anywhere from 11-18 degrees Celcius for the next week in Lethbridge, it’s no wonder that many people are itching to get outdoors and start planting their gardens.

Hold on there, says Greenhaven Garden Centre’s Karen Barby. While it may be warmer outside, she explains that spring-time weather in southern Alberta can vary greatly.

“Quite often we see the last week in April can be tricky. We’ve seen lots of snowstorms the last week in April. So, you’ve still got to go with your calendar – things that can’t take frost…like we can have a killing frost for tender plants like tomatoes and peppers and petunias and marigolds. We can have that all the way to the May long weekend. It’s still pretty early.”

What Barby suggests doing first, is to begin fertilizing lawns, clearing away old leaves, pruning and adding compost.

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“The soil is still chilly so there’s a lot of things that need more heat than what we have right now. The biggest thing though is to get all of the cleanup done. The shrubs, and anything that has dead branches, trim those off, and get all of the leaves out from underneath them and just get everything nice and neat and tidy, because you’re going to start to see new growth from perennials.”

If you’re really keen on planting something, Barby says spinach seeds are hearty and can withstand cooler soil temperatures, strawberries can be planted soon, along with lettuce and peas in the next couple of weeks or so.

Spring flower bulbs like peonies and begonias are ok to plant now, while gladiolas should be fine in the next couple of weeks.

And if deer are a persistent problem as fall bulbs start to sprout, Barby says there are sprays you can buy that can keep them away for several months.

If a frost does appear on the horizon, Barby explains what gardeners can do to save plants already in the ground.

“Blankets work the best. Anything with material that you can put over plants and it holds them to minus 5. The forecasts are usually pretty accurate. Anything that’s leafing out in your yard right now is able to stand those cold temperatures. It’s the brand-new plants that we always have to watch out for.”

Overall, though she says it’s so far shaping up to be a pretty promising spring. 

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