April 3, 2025

Finally we are in April.  It has been an unsettling late winter and spring. With the government trying to remove all mention of climate change in any official documents and trying to dismantle the Environmental Protection Agency, I fear for our earth, not to mention our country.  It is so tempting to put our heads down in our gardens and landscapes, to stop listening to the news and try not to think about it, but that means we will hand off damaged goods to our offspring.  For me, staying engaged means more computer time than I would like, but I still turn to the outdoors for solace.

March has been a classic windy month with broad swings in temperatures that caution early blooms to slow down.  Last year we had a big snow in late March that gave us some of the best cross country skiing of the year but this year we have been pretty much snowless with early budding of the maples making the sap bitter and slowing down the maple business.  Further north they are going strong.  My snowdrops are mostly past though I just found a fresh clump that had washed way down stream to bloom under an old apple tree.  Crocus flowers pop up here and there, moved by chipmunks.  Daffodil buds take just a day or two in the house to open to full bloom but they are on pause outside.  Close to the ground the peonies are pushing up their red shoots; rhubarb is showing their crinkled, brain-like beginnings. Buds on currants and honeysuckle are swelling.  Hellebore flowers are slowly raising their strange brownish heads from the earth.  Everything is ready to leap as soon as warmth returns.

This time of year a matter of a few degrees can make the difference between a snowstorm, freezing rain or rain.  I note in my garden diary that we had repeated snow events in early April last year.  It could still happen to us now.  Gardening in April is a matter of dressing adequately and then dodging in between the wettest times to get spring chores done.  If you leave it all for good weather you will be dreadfully behind.  I use indoor moments to start seeds, tend seedlings, and strategize my next outside moves.  It is easier to be patient when there is snow.  These windy, slightly above freezing days are the most tempting for me but not much fun for real work.  It is a good thing that I have a dog who loves a walk in any weather.  She is savoring the last few snow banks in the shade as well as the many wet places to frolic. I spend a lot of time pulling burrs from her gorgeous plume of a tail.

I pruned my fruit trees last week and helped in the community garden orchard where an arborist had marked what he thought would be good to remove this year.  I worry about taking too much or leaving branches that will cause trouble later. I know that with so many philosophies on best practices the trees will probably survive… as long as I don’t take too much.  It is like worrying that your parenting techniques are damaging the next generation.  Fingers crossed for resilience!  We have a large pile of branches to dispose of.  Hopefully I can rent a chipper so that the chips can be returned to the trees as their favorite mulch, called ramial chips. Michael Phillips is a huge promoter of using the chips of smaller branches (less than 2.5 inches in diameter at their thick end) to enhance the fungal life in the food web below fruit trees.  These smaller branches have a higher proportion of bark, buds and overall nutrients than the chips or sawdust from bigger wood.  Any old wood chips just won’t do.  Read Michael Phillips for a full understanding of these things (The Holistic Orchard, pub. by Chelsea Green 2011).

Pruning grapes is less stressful.  Established vines grow so vigorously that it is hard to take too much.  One year I took a workshop on vine management and went home and cut off all but precisely 6 buds on each arm of my vine.  Then I visited the vineyard of the person who taught the workshop and saw that he had left much more.  When I questioned him he said it was insurance in case of a late frost, a detail that I failed to hear at the workshop.  My vines survived and even flourished with that treatment.  Most of the vines I tend are more ornamental than anything else so I shape them with an eye to how they look on the arbor.  We always end up with plenty of grapes, even after Japanese beetles and other pests take their share.  

I finally gave in and decided the spring had advanced enough to remove the ugly stalks from some of my flower beds.  Very satisfying but — so many beds!  The worst area is the way-too-big patch of plume poppy (macleaya).  I vow to cut down the head-high stalks in the fall this year to reduce the winter ugliness.  Now I’m yanking them out by the roots to try to reduce the size of the patch.  They are spectacular but far too enthusiastic.  My Japanese butterbur, or petasites, is another one that looks cute now with only flowers showing but will grow enormous leaves and spread by leaps and bounds.  It needs to be mowed around to keep it in check.  

Perhaps my most important garden tool is a good pair of rubber boots.  I like the “Edgewater” version of “Muck Boots” as they are tall and a bit lighter and more flexible than some other Muck Boot offerings.  They are pricey but I wear them almost year round, with “Darn Tough” wool socks.  In the summer they only stay on my feet in the chill of morning, after which I switch to bare feet, or heavy shoes for digging.  This time of year I spray the neoprene part of the boots with “Sawyer” permethrin, the stuff that comes in the yellow bottle.  You spray it on clothing or gear, let it dry and then it repels ticks and other insects.  It claims to be effective for 6 weeks or 6 launderings.  Note that it is very poisonous to cats when it is still wet but is fine once dry.  Ticks and the diseases they carry are a serious problem for gardeners and walkers.  They have changed my habits during the “tickiest” parts of the year, causing me to walk on mowed paths and to stay vigilant to sensations on my skin ALL the time.  I refuse to be scared inside.  

I wrote these notes in anticipation of April 1st but then was surprised by such a balmy last day of March.  A lot happened in the near 70 degree temps. March definitely went out like a lamb.  I hope nothing is damaged by the impending frosty weather.