April Garden Guide: The Ultimate Guide to Florida Gardening

Wondering what you should plant in your Florida Vegetable Garden in the month of April? Check out this Florida Gardening Video where I give lots of Florida Gardening Tips to help you have a successful Florida Garden. When you are new to Gardening in Florida, you need all the help you can get so that you start a Florida Food Forest, grow a Central Florida Vegetable Garden, add color in your Tropical Garden, enjoy the best Florida Friendly Landscaping, and add Florida Native Plants.
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howdy neighbor how is your garden
growing today in my garden we’re going
to be talking about the vegetables
fruits and flowers you should consider
to plant in your garden for the month of
April so that you can create the garden
of your dreams right here in Florida and
to help make sure that I give you the
best suggestions and tips no matter
whether you live in North Central or
South Florida I’m going to be using my
handy dandy wild Floridian garden
planner which you can pick up at www.wi
fl.net planner so let’s start with
vegetables so veg that you should start
from seed whether you live in North
Central or South Florida they’re going
to be hot weather crops so whether you
live in zone 8 9 10 or 11 think about
things like Roselle okra loofah hot
weather squashes like seminal pumpkin
and beans with my particular favorite
being Puerto Rican black beans and I
guess technically not a seed but you
should still consider starting it it’s
going to be things like sweet potatoes
what’s kind of the theme when we think
about all these hot weather crops is
these are all the plants that you’re
going to get them in now I know it’s the
beginning of Spring but they’re going to
go through spring they’re going to
actually cover and protect your beds
they’re going to fill the spaces so you
don’t get overtaken by weeds over the
summer and in the summer especially late
summer early fall are going to be
producing crops and then make way for
you to start back into warm weather
crops cuz one of the big mistakes a lot
of flu radians will do is will’ll leave
our beds totally bare which means they
get overtaken by weeds or all the
nutrition that you’ve built up or you’ve
put into those beds gets totally washed
out by our summer rains so getting a
crop in even if you’re not going to eat
it is still really important just so
that you can maintain that organic
matter in your soil I know for me I’ve
just gotten some Rosel started and put
into my front beds I’m now starting to
think about getting more riselle and
more okra and even maybe doing something
fun like peanuts there are a lot of
options when it comes to hot weather
crops the trick is is that they will
never be varieties that you would have
grown up north when you think hot
weather crops here are some of the ones
that I have used in the past when it
comes to Okra I just use like the
Clemson spineless okra I really like
eating these when they’re small they’re
great when it’s really really hot out
which we’re starting to get kind of on
the hot end in the month of April and
definitely really humid and the sun’s
intense so I like the Clemson spineless
cuz you can snap them right off in the
garden and eat them when they’re like
baby okras another of my favorites is of
course Roselle we’ve talked about this
last month this is a great cranberry
substitute and they’re just really
pretty another one I didn’t mention but
I should have added to the list if
you’re looking for a leafy alternative
with a little bit of a lemony Tang to it
consider doing cranberry hibiscus it’s
one that I’m planning on getting some
seeds for because I just I like eating
wood soral which is that one of those
weeds that you find in your yard and it
has a very similar flavor to Cranberry
hibiscus and if I can have that flavor
go more of the Year I’ll be really happy
of course you want to get pumpkins going
I’m really into starting these if you’re
going to start them and don’t already
have them running around your garden
like I I do but if you needed to start
them I would be starting them now
because I really want to get them well
established get those plants growing so
that they can actually set root and
second root and third root so that they
can really deal with the intensity of
the sun that’s going to come later and
possibly set fruit before we get too hot
and too intense because once we get into
the hotter months while the plant Will
Survive the flowers will slow down
because of they want to get through the
summer not as much like produce so get
them in now so that you might get a one
set of crops
before you get Summer and then they’ll
just pick right back up in the fall and
for those who are thinking about getting
into seminal pumpkins and want to know
way more about them check out this video
I’ll add it in the playlist at the end
it’s everything you need to know about
seminal pumpkins now you may be thinking
Jacqueline I just watched your spring
planning video and I didn’t hear you
talk about beans we talked about a lot
of these other crops being in my garden
but why not beans well for me I do
Puerto Rican black beans and they are
crazy like I get a crazy amount of them
I can’t even Harvest them as fast as
they get in and so for me what I’m going
to be focused on is not in April but
next month’s starting seeds for those
because I want to have them ready for
when the tomatoes are gone and another
thing that you may want to consider with
beans as you’re having cold weather
crops out if you don’t have those places
filled with warm weather crops you
should really consider adding beans
because they can also help fix the soil
right you add some nitrogen back in
which all of your other plants that’s
what makes them green is the nitrogen
component so consider adding beans even
if you’re not a big bean fan just so you
can help re-enrich your soil you can
always chop and drop them like just like
get some beans in your life but if you
can’t get your hands on something like
Puerto Rican black beans you should
consider doing things like black ey peas
cow peas there’s a lot of different
types also use Southern Exposure seed
exchange they really specialize in seeds
for the South and if you read the
descriptions they’ll often say made in
Florida cultivated in Florida made for
Florida’s Heat and like you’ll find a
bunch of varieties in there so there are
so many varieties that can work check
out there and see if you can find
something that you like and you can
order them online and get them delivered
straight to your house now when it comes
to warm weather crops basically Central
South Florida if you haven’t gotten your
transplants in you’re done the only way
you could really get around this is I
would say with certain pepper plants not
your sweet don’t do bell peppers but if
you’re doing something like jalapenos or
lav our hot peppers like Habaneros you
want to do those Spicy Thai peppers
you could consider doing something like
that one thing to watch out for is that
you want to put these in locations that
will eventually get some shade in the
summertime not full shade but a little
bit of shade because a lot of those hot
pepper varieties will go through the
summer even in Central and South Florida
this is actually something you could
still do if your beds are out in full
full sun because you’re used to using
them just for lettuce in the winter time
you could put these in pots and then
just kind of move them but for my North
Floridians if you’re still interested in
getting warm weather crops growing you
can you guys still have some of that
coolness not here I’m Zone 10B we’re not
cool at all right now man it’s a humanid
day you guys can still get some of your
warm weather crops going so remember do
tomatoes that have like small little
fruits you know those things that are
like your cherry tomatoes your grape
tomatoes sweet 100s and of course
Everglades Tomatoes another thing to
think about when it comes to veggies
right now is considering how you’re
going to be doing succession planting a
lot of especially in Central and South
Florida we’re to start seeing this month
a lot of your cold weather crops if they
haven’t gone through their Harvest
they’re going to start bolting this is
just because it’s just the ground is
getting hot enough they want to try to
set seed before it gets too bad and
throw their seeds everywhere so you may
see things like your broccoli bolting
your lettuce is bolting so be prepared
to get your Harvest before they bolt
unless you want to collect seeds which
is also a good idea the other thing to
think about before you harvest out those
cold weather crops is to take advantage
of those plants even if they’re bolting
by setting seeds of your hot weather
crops underneath them it’s one of the
things I just did in the spring planning
video is I was starting to put peppers
underneath my cold weather crops so that
this month as everything is getting
pulled out of the beds they’re not
they’re basically getting harded off in
bed so then as I kind of cut back the
leaves and then I take out the lettuce
and the broccolis then the peppers won’t
have been like ah it’s UV index 10 right
now it’s so it’s a lot and I’m going to
be doing something really similar also
with my hot weather crops I’m going to
be using the fact that I have cold
weather and warm weather crops in place
to start setting seeds for hot weather
crops in bed that way I don’t have to do
as much like start in the tray stay on
top of watering and all the stuff you
have to do to make seed leaks grow and
then make sure that you transplant them
right it worked really well for me with
my cold weather crops to just be like I
want it here I will put five seeds here
and I think I’m going to do that a lot
for what’s going to replace everything
as we head towards Spring and then
summer April is really dry month water
table is dropping and dropping and
dropping this is basically the water
line in the ground and it’s going to
keep getting lower because April is the
driest month of the year that means the
water’s way way down and for veggies the
deepest roots that you’ll even see with
a veggie on plants like tomatoes and
broccoli is about 18 in and right now I
can tell you the water table in my area
as of mid March was already 3 ft down
let’s see if they can see it yeah you
guys see there you go there’s the water
table that doesn’t mean there isn’t any
moisture in the soil it just means it’s
going to drop through faster and faster
faster so make sure that you’re staying
on top of your watering needs pay
attention to your Sprinklers and your
irrigation because this is the time of
year if you can stretch a plant out if
you can get a ceiling established it’s
all going to be because you helped it
along the way my next tip when it comes
to veggies is all about staying on top
of your Harvest April is really big
month especially where I live in Central
Florida where as things are starting to
bold plants start to get stressed from
the heat they are sending signals out to
the little buggies and the bugs are here
in full forest in April and they are
ready to eat your crops down so it
doesn’t matter whether you still have
cold weather crops in your bed or you
have warm weather crops or you got new
hot weather crops you’re going to see
the pest pressure increase dramatically
but one of the ways that you can make it
okay is you stay on top of your Harvest
so you want to make sure that at least
every other day you’re doing a sweep
through your vegetable garden you don’t
need to solve the world you’re just
going to go through quickly and you’re
going to see anything that is ready for
Harvest or almost ready for Harvest that
is one of the things I had to learn
throughout the years is you don’t want
to wait for your tomatoes to look
perfectly fully ripe red like it’s okay
if they still have a little green on
them it is better to take them off the
vine a tiny bit early and actually get a
crop of harvest than it is to lose the
whole thing to Mr Bug or Mr possum or Mr
squirrel who all are just going to like
snatch that whole thing and then you
lose the whole Harvest also pay
attention to the fact that you’re going
to have some of your plants bolting so
your lettu uses might be heading up but
they’re also getting ready to send up
that flour and you want to catch them
before they start doing that because
they’re going to start to taste really
bitter and not as yummy another tip for
you when it comes to harvesting is that
plants are
sad in the afternoon so try to do your
Harvest first thing in the morning
that’s when a lot of your plants are
going to be nice and crisp and happy and
tasting their sweetest if you can’t do
it early in the morning cuz I know
people got jobs got responsibilities
that’s totally okay then I would
recommend wait till the evening after
the sun set to also go and grab
everything because then it’s they just
St tast better trust me now something
that you should consider in your
vegetable garden if you don’t already
have this in place is building a trellis
and the reason I bring this up is cuz
your warm weather crops and your hot
weather crops a ton of them love a
trellis Tomatoes beans some of your
squash plants and there’s a lot of right
ways to do trellises you could do
something really beautiful and cottage
gardening like I did in a recent project
or you could do something really basic
and simple by just putting out some tube
posts and a flat panel with some chicken
wire on it there’s a lot of options I’ll
put a couple different videos to give
you some trellis inspiration but I
strongly strongly recommend this I have
for years grown tomatoes on trellises
especially if you’re doing something
like an everglazed tomato they’re too
wild and crazy like get them on a
trellis whether you want to do like a
gorgeous Cottage Garden type trellis you
want to do a DIY cattle panel trellis or
you just want to do something really
simple like a flat panel trellis that
you can put together in just like an
hour any of these options would be great
if you’re considering doing some of
those plants that would love a trellis
the other thing to consider is when it
comes to things like your eggplants
peppers and if you have bushing Tomatoes
is that you still may want to not quite
trellis but like but more like cages
these plants can get very topheavy and
sometimes heavier than their stems are
ready for so whether you’re going to
stake them or put a little cage around
them or you can make your own out of
some chicken panel and just wire it
together there’s a lot of right ways to
do it also consider doing that because
this is the time of year if you’ve
gotten them established they might start
like to flop over I know we always put
this in the veggie section but it’s
technically a fruit but no one thinks of
it like a fruit cuz it’s not like a tree
but let’s do a little quick tip on
strawberries I know our major strawberry
season has passed everyone’s
strawberries are starting to slow down
at this time of year if they haven’t
totally quit if you have your
strawberries in pots it is a good time
to start shifting those into semi-shade
areas your strawberries can survive the
summer mine have they can actually go
year over year throw out little daughter
strawberry plants and continue to
propagate if you have your strawberries
in beds like this this is the time of
year to consider transplanting them into
pots so that you can move them into
shadier locations let’s talk fruit well
I guess we already did with strawberries
but if you’re looking for fruits that
you should start in the month of April
my central floridans my South floridans
have ADD it if it’s a tropical fruit
whether you want bananas papayas
mulberries pineapples passion fruit Jack
fruits Leaf cheese you want it go ahead
just go for it is now warm enough and
we’re past those freezing temperatures
that kill off tropical plants if you’re
interested go for it do it now the watch
out is is because we said it is the dry
season and the water table is at low
points since most of these are tropical
plants they tend to get established and
get going in the monsoon months from
their home areas so if you were to start
something like a banana or papaya you
will want to stay on top of the watering
these plants are huge huge water suckers
so if you are going to go ahead and put
a banana or papaya or one of these
tropical fruiting plants in ground
you’re going to want to really stay on
top of their watering for the next month
even two months to make sure that they
get really good strong root systems so
that they can get really well
established so that they can make you
tons and tons of fruit another tip is
for those of you who actually have
paralized fruiting trees often times in
the month of April you’re going to see a
lot of these harvests come in like your
bananas especially for my zone 11s and
my warmer Zone 10s like 10B you may have
had bananas that went through the winter
months you may have papayas that went
through the winter months and you’re
going to see as it starts to warm up
they’re quickly going to go from having
just hung there for literally 3 4 months
to Boom being right so what you’re going
to want to make sure you’re doing is
really looking for those signs of them
turning from green to ripe and you’re
going to want to harvest those Quicks
because Wildlife loves these plants
loves them Mr squirrel is like super
happy happy that my papayas are about to
turn ripe let’s talk flowers in the
month of April if you’re looking to add
big beautiful bold blooms to your garden
you’ve got a lot of options whether
you’re going to go with Native wild
flowers or you’re going to go with large
flowering shrubs or trees when it comes
to Native wild flowers there’s just so
many In Bloom if you have the planner
you know the list is really really long
but when it comes to the ones that are
going to have some of the biggest and
boldest blooms right now you can see a
few of them behind me and that’s going
to be things like your cone flowers
whether they’re going to be blackeyed
Susans or orange con flowers or one of
the many many other varieties of cone
flowers that are native to our home
state also things like our verbas like
beach verbina and Tampa verbina are
continuing to go strong and really fill
out and look Bold and Beautiful both of
these plants are great if you’re looking
to track butterflies to your garden
especially things like verbina because
butterflies are looking for high high
nectar sources and verbas with their
Buttercup shape are going to defin
definely pull in a lot of butterflies
especially small medium and you might
even get some large ones on them another
wild flower that you might want to add
to your landscape which is a low ground
cover is going to be blue porterweed
this isn’t the porter weed that you find
in the store that’s actually an invasive
species it’s like a tall shrub the
native one is actually a low growing
shrub it’s stays about 1T tall this is a
really good if you’re looking kind of
for that ground cover for filling out
flower beds and it is loved especially
by things like your green Orchid bees
your blue old sweat bees your honey bees
if you have them in your garden and
small butterflies from cassus Blue Miami
Blue and a ton of little blue
butterflies plus you’ll also pull over
things like monarch butterflies and
other medium butterflies you also get
things like your blue-eyed grasses that
are growing really strong and things
like salt and pepper which is a favorite
of these and all of these plants be
great to put near your vegetable garden
especially for your warm weather crops
because they need pollinators so if
you’re looking to increase your Tomatoes
your peppers your eggplants definitely
put some of these native Wild flowers
near there cuz the bees love them I know
I have them close to my tomatoes and
I’ve got an insane amount of tomatoes
right now I don’t know if we’re going to
be able to keep up with all of them
another one that you might want to add
to your garden is Scorpion tail and this
is a great one because it doesn’t have a
big Bold Bloom it has actually very
teeny tiny blooms but it attracts wasps
now you may say jacine why would I want
to attract wasp to my garden I don’t
want wasp these in general are not going
to be large wasp these are going to be
smaller wasp but they’re very predatory
and they love eating aphids and lots of
other small tiny teeny tiny caterpillar
type things you know the ones that eat
your veggies and your flowers down so
adding something like scorpion tail
whether it’s into a pot or you just
create a little area for it will bring
in a lot more predatory species which
you will need in order to be able to
have a very balanced Garden throughout
the heat of spring and summer so
consider adding scorpion tail to your
garden now when it comes to big bold
blooms for the month of April if you’re
looking for those giant Florida friendly
shrubs or native trees to add to your
garden here are some ones that you
should consider first off there are
different roses that we can actually
grow here in Florida even as far as
South Florida so if you’re looking to
really create a Cottage Garden look you
could add one of these roses to your
garden another thing that you should
consider having in your garden I mean it
is such a staple to souy is a southern
magnolia these are native trees to the
Southern United States and they have
huge flowers I mean like huge these
flowers are bigger than your face like
who doesn’t want a flower as big as a
dish they are gorgeous white white
flowers bees will literally just flop
around in the pollen that are caught by
the petals they’re gorgeous and even
later on when they’re not flowering and
they’re putting out their seeds or
berries that the birds would like to eat
they just have this really gorgeous
cone-like shape that honestly could make
a wonderful table arrangement or just
look really pretty on the tree the trees
in general are so gorgeous because you
have those shiny leathery looking leaves
with a brass bronze Underside I mean
they’re just like really attractive
trees if you have the space for a
southern magnolia like you should do it
you can even get one of the sweet bag
Magnolia which is not only a smaller
tree with those giant Gorgeous Flowers
but also is a host plant which is a host
plant to the Eastern Tiger swallet Tail
of course for my Central and my South
Flor radians if you are thinking about
wanting big white roses but are
struggling with having the idea of roses
or thorns in your garden you should
really consider adding gardinas these
plants have big bold gorgeous smells
they stay Evergreen throughout the year
especially especially my zone 10 and 11s
They can create that Cottage Garden look
they actually prefer a semi- shaped
location over a full sun location and
more of a citrus smell to it I mean
Citrus flow
consider gardinas and of course in the
month of April when it comes to large
trees that are flowering beyond our
native Magnolia consider doing yellow
tabs related to the pink tabs that we
talked about in the previous months
yellow tabuas or yellow Trumpet trees
are gorgeous and if you’re looking for
big bold yellow and actually in the same
family as the pink tabs that we’ve
talked about and the yellow tabs is a
purple tab or a purple trumpety or more
commonly known here in Florida as joara
ever seen the pictures of San Diego St
Petersburg or even Australia covered in
blue purple blooms that my friends is a
joara and yes you can have it in your
yard but if you’re looking for classic
that’s going to bloom for spring summer
and fall and part of the winter too
depending on where you live of course if
you live in Florida you should consider
adding a hibiscus we have both native
hibiscuses like our Scarlet hibiscus and
our swamp our swamp rosem malow or you
can get one of our Florida friendly
there are so so many varieties and they
come in so many different colors from
fuchsia pinks to White to pale pinks
like the seol Hibiscus there’s a lot of
options now a tip for everyone whether
you’re into veggies fruits or flowers
you’re going to want to stay on top of
weeds this month everything is in full
bloom and exploding if you haven’t been
doing weekly sweeps of your garden
you’re going to quickly find that weeds
are going to get out of control and
start trying to take over so make sure
that you add it to your weekly schedule
if not every couple days to just go
around and do a quick check and pull
plants that don’t belong so if you’re
looking to learn how to identify those
weeds so that you know which ones to
pull and which ones maybe to actually
keep you’re going to want to check out
that plus videos on seminal pumpkins
bananas papayas and how to plan your
spring vegetable garden all in this
playlist right here if you want to pick
up your copy of the wild flan garden
planner you can you can pick it up at
www. Wild fl.net planner or just click
this link right here okay I’ll see you
soon bye