April is National Gardening Month: Tips to Jump Start Your Garden

With the days getting longer and warmer, it's time for homeowners across Rockland and Bergen counties, as well as the Hudson Valley region, to prepare their gardens for a vibrant growing season. Taking care of essential spring gardening tasks now will help ensure healthy, beautiful landscapes all year long.

Start by checking your tools, shovels, rakes, spades, and hoes, for damage, tightening loose handles, sharpening blades, and removing rust. Clean last year’s pots to avoid disease. Make sure you have supplies like fertilizers and plant supports ready for the season.

Spring cleaning outside is just as important as inside. Rake out weeds and clear away leftover debris to prepare planting areas. Split fast-growing perennials like daylilies, Shasta daisies, and hostas. This stops overcrowding and helps plants grow better. Replant the divided parts in your yard or share them with others.

Cut back dead or old branches and shape plants before new growth starts, while trees and shrubs have no leaves. This helps plants grow stronger. Good plants to prune early include butterfly bush, honeysuckle, hydrangea, spirea, crepe myrtle, rose, and wisteria.

If you have started cool season crops like lettuce, broccoli, and potatoes indoors, keep the soil evenly moist but not too wet. When seedlings appear, put them near a sunny window for enough light. Before moving them outside, wait until daytime temperatures stay above 50°F for at least 7 days.

When seedlings have one or two sets of leaves, begin feeding them with a half-strength organic fertilizer. This gives them important nutrients. Keep only one seedling per pot by choosing the strongest one. Cut off the others at the soil level.

For early outdoor planting, pansies can handle cooler nights and do well in pots or garden edges. Azaleas and rhododendrons, planted in groups, add seasonal color. Mix different plants and colors to fit your outdoor areas.

For hydrangeas, add fertilizer in early spring as buds start to grow. Use a slow-release, balanced, or acid-loving fertilizer to help roots recover, support healthy growth, and strengthen stems. This helps flowers bloom, especially on old-wood and reblooming types. Avoid too much nitrogen to prevent excessive leaf growth and fewer flowers. Water well after fertilizing to help nutrients work and protect roots.

“Spring is the perfect time to reconnect with your garden and set the stage for a beautiful season ahead,” says Stuart Leventhal, owner of Down to Earth Living. “A little early effort now pays off all year long.”

Down to Earth’s expanded indoor plant showroom is now open for the spring season. They are currently offering free repotting when you purchase a plant and or a pot at the store.

Down to Earth Living, now in its 56th year, is a Garden Center serving Rockland, Bergen and Orange counties and the Hudson Valley, offering 12.5 acres filled with perennials, flowers, shrubs, and trees, with new plants arriving weekly. The 10,000-square-foot showroom features a selection of contemporary, classic, traditional, and transitional teak, aluminum, and all-weather dining and deep-seated furniture. Located at 1040 Route 45 in Pomona, N.Y., For more information, call 845-354-8500 or visit www.dteliving.com.