Spring is just around the corner, and with it comes the busy season for gardening and planting. By April, you might already be tackling some tasks on your own. Tree trunks have been carefully coated with lime, garden beds are prepared for seedlings, shrubs and trees have been fertilized and pruned, and winter coverings have been removed from the roses. But have you remembered to divide your dahlias? If not, it’s time to get on that right away.
The first half of this month is the last chance to plant annual flower seedlings—like stock, Shabo and Turkish carnations, and lion’s mouth. These plants can withstand light frosts in May, allowing you to transfer them to the ground earlier than others. About 5-10 days before planting, it’s advisable to harden them off by placing the seed trays in a cool, bright room or taking them outside for the day. The same goes for tomato seedlings.
It’s also time to sow biennials—such as foxgloves, hollyhocks, and bellflowers. The seeds of these plants are very small (for instance, there are over 10,000 foxglove seeds in just 1 gram), so they should be barely covered with soil; instead, gently press them into the ground with a board. Sow them only in well-moistened beds. Larger seeds can be sown in furrows, ensuring they are not too densely packed.
In mid-May, you can sow reseda, iberis, sweet peas, calendula, heliotrope, schizanthus, nasturtium, dimorphotheca, lavatera, ageratum, and eschscholzia. Annual flowers can be sown in garden beds and borders, and they are also great for filling in empty spots left by flowering bulb plants like daffodils and tulips.
Seedlings of other annual flowers, such as tagetes (marigolds) and zinnias, which are sensitive to even light frosts, as well as biennials (like forget-me-nots, daisies, and pansies) that need to bloom next year, should be sown at the end of May. This is also the time to plant the seedlings of dried flowers (like limonium and others). Additionally, you can sow perennial flower seeds in seedbeds. Perennials that bloom late in the summer and fall—like phlox, ground chrysanthemums, delphiniums, and perennial asters—should be divided now.
To divide them, dig up the entire bush, gently shake off the soil, and use a sharp spade or knife (depending on the size of the bush) to cut it into 3-5-8 parts. Phlox and ground chrysanthemums can be divided into even smaller sections. It’s not too late to divide the rooster flowers either. Do this carefully to minimize damage to the roots and rhizomes.
At the end of May and the beginning of June, depending on the weather, you can start planting dahlia tubers and cuttings in the ground, which will produce beautiful bushes and large flowers in their first season. It’s also time for peony cuttings (leaf cuttings) and phlox. For phlox, cut stems that are 5-8 cm long with 5-7 leaves, divide them into sections with two nodes, and make the lower cut at an angle just below a node. Then treat the cuts with a solution of indole-3-butyric acid (30 mg/l) and plant them in moist sand.
Don’t forget that you can also plant salvia, coleus, petunias, and godetia now.
Roses require a lot of attention too. After the spring frosts, uncover them for 1-2 days to let them “dry out,” then stake the stems and loosen the soil around them or turn the soil with manure.
Different groups of roses require different pruning techniques. For park roses, simply clean them up by removing broken, old shoots, and those that overcrowd the bush. Climbing roses should be lightly pruned, leaving only 4-6 strong one- or two-year-old shoots at 10-15 cm long (no more!). Remove very old 8-10 year old shoots, as well as dry and small branches at the base of the bush. If you notice “wild” shoots, carefully cover the soil around the root collar and cut the wild shoot back to the base. For remontant roses, prune 3-5 shoots to 4-8 buds, ensuring their length remains between 20-50 cm. Weaker and younger bushes should be pruned shorter, while small and old shoots should be completely removed. Tea-hybrid roses should be pruned to 1-3 clearly visible buds.
In May, not only do plants awaken, but so do pests and plant diseases. Keep an eye out for their appearance and remove or spray them promptly.
Roses affected by powdery mildew (a white or gray “dust” on the leaves) should be dusted with sulfur or sprayed with a 1% suspension of colloidal sulfur paste or a copper-soap solution (250 g of green soap, 25 g of copper sulfate in 10 liters of water). Dusting and spraying should only be done on sunny days when the temperature is around 20°C (68°F).
If the tips of young rose shoots are curled and covered in fine webs, this indicates an infestation by the green caterpillar leaf roller, which should simply be crushed or picked off. If the rose leaves are elongated and curled, they are likely damaged by a sawfly, which requires effective extermination methods.
To eliminate aphids on roses, which can significantly damage the plants, spray them with soapy water (200 g of liquid soap in 10 liters of water), tobacco dust, or with an insecticide like anathazin or nicotine sulfate (20 g of the product and 40 g of soap in 10 liters of water).
We haven’t mentioned yet that trees and shrubs should be planted in early May.
Before planting fruit seedlings and bushes, prepare them by lightly trimming the roots and the crown shoots by one-third. Then place the plants’ roots in water or a “mud” solution made from clay mixed with water, and wrap the crown in damp burlap for 12-24 hours. Only after this should you plant them, preferably in the evening.
In dry weather, be sure to regularly water all newly planted plants and sown seeds.