Gardener’s Diary – Beginning of April

Talked with a new arborist/landscaper yesterday; he thinks the azaleas will be fine. We sat on the deck to go over his pricing for tree work, and he was kind enough to say “This is nice.”
What a change from last April, when the yard was still a disaster!
He passed on a lot of good information about the St. Johnswort, butterfly bushes and Clethra, suggesting that I hold off on pruning until everything leafs.
He said it will take two years for the grass to come in completely, not necessary to overseed until the Fall. He said not to worry about the grasses that haven’t started yet, they are warm weather plants and probably won’t show new growth until May.
There is life in the fourth Miss Kim, although it will need to be pruned.
The lettuce and radishes “fried” in the cold frame over the weekend.
Jonquils are blooming in the back and the sweetpea seedlings have started.
The Siberian iris I planted in the front last year and the two clumps of home-grown iris in the back (that I thought I’d obliterated) are up and seem to be healthy, along with the phlox. No sign of Mike’s Easter lily yet.
Since rain seems to be holding off, I sprayed the roses with Fung-onil today to prevent black spot. The ones by the house are days ahead of the ones in the yard.
Emme and James helped me plant pansies in the shed flower boxes. I posted the weekend party photos yesterday.
Cleaned up with the new leaf vac at Edgewater yesterday. Finally caught up with laundry and email correspondence today.