A pril brings spring gardening is to a fever pitch, and nurseries are fully stocked with all kinds of plants and products for every purpose for the itchy green thumb. I pruned the rose bushes and trimmed the Privets and Burford Hollies in February, and fertilized the lawn at the end of March after scalping the grass.

Oh yes, I fell for an April Fools joke, as usual. Maybe I just didn't want to spoil the fun for somebody.

This is a busy month. What has not been planted, removed, transplanted, and killed was intended to stay where it is.

I love to walk out into the yard and see the fresh young growth projecting from the weathered and mature stems. It's a reward for the many hours and days of sweat equity we have put into the landscape. Rose blossoms are rampant, supported by the leaves with blackspot that I did not remove last fall and must be addressed now. The air is fresh, clean, and invigorating after the heavy shower from the evening before.

If you haven't been busy with the February and March tasks it's time to throw the covers back, get up, get out, and get with it. Here are a few gardening tasks for the month of April that you might find helpful.

  PRUNING: Species (old garden) climbing roses may also be pruned as soon as they complete flowering.

  FERTILIZING: Camellias should be fertilized this month, and once azaleas finish blooming, fertilize them, too, to stimulate new growth. Just be careful not to fertilize too heavily, and evenly distribute the fertilizer over the root zone. Their shallow roots can be easily burned when fertilizer is applied in concentrated piles.

Roses have relatively high fertility requirements, so fertilization can begin now and continue every 4 to 6 weeks until September.

  SEEDING: Annual flowers may be seeded now, including amaranthus, celosia, cosmos, marigold, zinnia, and several other warm-season annual flowers. These can be sown directly in the beds where they are to grow. Keep seeded areas moist until seeds germinate. Thin out as soon as they are large enough to transplant so the remaining plants will not be crowded. Surplus plants can be transplanted to other areas.

  PLANTING: For faster color, purchase annuals already started. Select short, compact plants, preferably ones that have not yet begun to flower. Remove flowers and buds to give the plants an opportunity to become well established before flowering.

One of the best hot-weather, summer plants is the periwinkle (vinca). Eager gardeners setting out vinca too early may lose it to a fungal blight. By waiting until it gets hot (later in May) to plant vinca in the sunny part of the yard, you almost totally avoid this problem. Mulching can also help reduce disease problems by reducing soil splashing up onto the leaves. Periwinkle is a very aggressive ground cover with a nice blooming habit. Be sure you want it before planting it. I have been removing it each year for two years now after digging it up where I did not want to keep it.

Perennials for summer color include lantana, daylilies, verbena, hostas, salvia, sedums, ornamental grasses, purple coneflower, ferns and summer phlox. These are all great plants for attracting butterflies, bees, and hummingbirds.

It's a good time to plant Annuals in April. These include alyssum, asters, Begonia, Coleus, dusty miller, geranium, impatiens, marigold, Phlox, periwinkle, Salvia, and Zinnia.

  PLANT AND TREE CARE: I generally use tree spikes around maturing trees that gives a nice slow release hypo during the spring. I repeat the spikes in July since these are good for about three months. It will soon be time for bagworms to attack junipers and other narrow-leafed evergreens. Control measures, such as Sevin dust or spray, should be applied while the insects and bags are about one half inch in length.

  WEED KILLER: Apply broad-leaved weed killer to control clover, dandelions, henbit and other non-grassy weeds. Wait until temperatures are in the 60's, with no rain in the 48-hour forecast. Mowing alone will eliminate many cool-season weeds.

  LAWN CARE: Spring should be here for good now. Nearly all plants are actively growing and many can still be planted. If you didn't fertilize in March, do it now. Your lawn grass should have been scalped late in the month or early March. This can help in removing weed seeds before they germinate.

Mow lawns frequently enough so that you never cut more than 1/3 of the leaf blade. Keep the mower blade sharp. Let the clippings remain on the lawn, unless the amount of clippings is excessive or blades are diseased. Each bag of clippings you throw away contains up to 1/4 of a pound of organic nitrogen. Removing more than 1/3 of the height of the grass allows the sun to scorch the root system.

Monitor lawns weekly to catch lawn pest problems in the early stages. April through July is also the best time to de-thatch a lawn that has developed a thick layer of under composed runners and clippings or thatch between the soil and grass plants. This is done with a vertical mower or power rake. Thatch restricts water and air movement into soil making mowing difficult and provides a habitat for insects and diseases.

April through July is also the best time to plant lawn grass, from seed, sod or plugs. Bermudagrass, Bahiagrass and centipedegrass seed is available but St. Augustinegrass seed is not available.

Water seeded areas frequently to keep soil continuously moist until germination and do the same for sod or plugs until new roots grow.

St. Augustinegrass and Bermudagrass can be planted in mid-April

  ROSES: Roses can be planted now. Climbing hybrid tea roses may be pruned as soon as they complete blooming. Prune climbing roses to remove weak branches and cut wild growing canes back. Other than this it is not necessary to prune climbers.

Roses have high fertilizer requirements. For most soils, use a fertilizer recommended for roses every 4 to 6 weeks. Fertilize just as the new growth starts following a flowering cycle and continue counting weeks from then.

Continue to spray rose varieties susceptible to black spot, using a spray containing triforine (Funginex). Use every 7 to 10 days as needed. Black spot causes black-brown spots encircled by bright yellow tissue.

Include systemic insecticide to prevent thrips. They cause buds to turn brown and fail to open properly. Many of the Old Garden Roses and some of the newer ones have considerable resistance to blackspot. Any of the 117 EarthKind Roses will be highly resistant to disease and insects. I have never lost a rose bush to disease, but the blackspot makes it look unhealthy. My lawn requires more attention than roses so select some good cultivars and enjoy the beauty of your own roses. Our house has cut roses inside every week for seven months of the summer.

Watch out for the April Fools pranksters. Oops! I may have been too late. April 1 is April Fools Day.

April 2 is the beginning of Daylight Savings Time.

Easter Sunday is on April 16th. This is a great time for mums (chrysanthemum, if you can say it) in pots in your house and in front of your house.

April 18 is Patriots Day.

April 22 is Earth Day.

April 28 is Arbor Day.

By Derald Freeman, TCMGA MG