By News-Topic Staff
If you want a luscious carpet pf green grass in your front yard and all of your flowers to boom as intended, now is the time to give your plants, grass, trees, etc the care and love they need to remain beautiful all spring, summer and fall. Here are a few tips from the North Carolina Cooperative Extension Caldwell County office.
Fertilizing
* Fertilize summer flowering plants like rose- of-Sharon this month.
* Do not forget to side dress or fertilize your vegetables six to eight weeks after germination.
Planting
* Plant gladioli bulbs this month.
* Plant summer annuals like begonia, geranium, marigold, petunia and zinnia this month.
* The following vegetable plants can be set out this month: eggplant, pepper, tomato and sweet potato.
* The following vegetables can be planted this month: beans, lima beans, cantaloupe, corn, cucumbers, okra, southern peas, pumpkin, squash and watermelon.
Pruning
* Prune your hybrid rhododendron after they finish flowering.
* Prune any hedges that have outgrown their desired shape.
* Begin pinching your chrysanthemums and continue through early July.
* Pick off azalea leaf galls as they form.
* Do NOT cut back spring bulb foliage until it turns yellow and brown.
Spraying
* Spray the following landscape shrubs for the following insect pests: arborvitae-bag worm, azalea-lace bug, boxwood-leaf miner, euonymus-scale, hemlock and juniper-spruce mites, pyracantha-lace bug and hybrid rhododendron borer.
* Spray iris beds for iris borers.
* Spray the following vegetables if insects are observed: cucumber (cucumber beetle), squash (squash borer and aphids, tomato and eggplant (flea beetle), broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower (worms).
* Weekly sprays on red-tip photinia if leaf spot is observed.
* Continue with rose spray program.
* Keep spraying your tree fruits and bunch grapes with a fungicide program.
* Use pesticides sparingly. Spray only when needed. Read and follow all label directions.
Lawn Care
* Fertilize zoysia this month after it has greened up. Do not fertilize tall fescue now.
* Start warm season lawns ( zoysia and bermudagrass) in May.
* Mowing heights for your lawn are important. Cut tall fescue and bluegrass at 3.75 inches, zoysia at 1.5 inches.
Propagation
* Take softwood cuttings of plants like azalea, rhododendron, forsythia, clematis, chrysanthemum and geranium in late May if you have a misting propagation system.
Specific Chores
* Purchase locally grown strawberries.
* Move houseplants outside if desired.
* If weather has been dry, give favorite plants a good soaking once a week.
* Repot and divide overgrown house plants.
* Mulching your plants helps maintain moisture and can protect roots from extremes in temperature.