Remove winter mulch.

• Remove winter mulch from perennials and, especially, bulbs once they show signs of new growth.
• When bulbs show signs of new growth, it's also the time for slugs to resume activity, so put out slug bait at that time.
• Be careful when working the soil this month. If it's too wet, it will dry out in hard clumps, ruining that all-important soil texture.

Keep It Up -- Continue to plant container-grown trees, shrubs, ground covers, perennial herbs, and perennial flowers.

Planting Tips

Planting Bare-Root Trees, Shrubs and Roses -- Continue to plant bare-root trees and shrubs as well as bare-root roses.

Planting Trees and Shrubs

Deadheading 101 -- Deadhead spent flower heads on fading spring-blooming bulbs, if you have any at this point, to direct their energy back to their roots so they can build vigor for next year.

Deadheading 101

• Outdoors, as long as the soil is well-thawed, you can plant cool-season crops and flowers, including seeds for radishes, peas, sweet peas, lettuces, and greens, as well as seedlings for broccoli, cauliflower, and cabbages.
• Wait to plant warm-season annuals (tomatoes, peppers, basil, marigolds, petunias, and the like) once all danger of frost has passed and the soil has warmed up well.
• If you've overwintered fuchsia pots or baskets, take them out of dark storage now and put them in the warmth and light of a south-facing window or other sunny, enclosed spot. Put them outdoors after all danger of frost has passed.

What To Plant -- Plant potatoes and perennial fruits and vegetables, such as rhubarb, strawberries (keep the blossoms pinched off the first year to encourage stronger root growth), and asparagus, this month.

Planting Strawberries

• Fertilize camellias and rhododendrons now with a fertilizer made especially for acid-loving plants.

Divide Your Perennials -- Divide perennials that will bloom in the summer or fall once they've sent up significant foliage at least a couple inches tall. (Wait to divide spring-blooming perennials after they bloom.) Perennials need dividing when they are getting crowded, as evidenced by reduced blooms, floppy stems, or a dead spot in the middle. Or perhaps you simply want more plants!

Divide Perennials

• Prune evergreens any time from now until late summer. (Don't prune later than that or you'll prompt new, tender growth that will get zapped by winter's cold.)
• Prune raspberries. June-bearing types should be thinned to 6 inches apart, the tips removed, and old canes from last year removed. You can just cut ever-bearing types to the ground.
• Renovate weak lawns along the coast by reseeding the lawn this month. Wait until next month in colder inland areas.
• Resolve to mow your lawn regularly and at the right height. It's the best thing you can do to control weeds and keep grass thick and healthy. Now, during cool weather, mow at 2 inches or so. In July when hot weather hits, raise the mower to 3 inches.
• Clear out debris and muck from the bottom of the water garden and add it to your compost heap. Start feeding fish again when water temperatures hit 50 degrees F or they're active and eagerly eat the food.