Garden Keeping Journal - April Edition

Monthly Tips, Inspiration & Checklists for Zone-7 (and neighboring) gardeners

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The lilac shrub in the south rock garden at Juniper Hill Cottage.

Spring in the high-country can be a wild ride, can't it?

One day you're soaking up the sunshine, convinced spring is finally here, and the next morning - surprise! - two inches of snow and a biting, cold wind greet you. That's springtime in Prescott!

My biggest advice this month is similar to March: resist the urge to plant your tender annuals and young perennials too soon. Even though the warm days might tempt you, remember our last frost date around Prescott usually falls around Mother’s Day. Patience is key to gardening success here!
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Last year this time, I was convincing myself that I should go ahead and get my Dahlia tubers in the ground because it was so nice. Then reason set in and I decided to wait just a tiny bit longer. But this year (this fall to be exact) I decided to try a different approach. Rather than lift the tubers and store them until spring, I left them in place, tucked in under layers of garden felt and a heavy tarp to keep warm and avoid rotting.

It’s an experiment that might be a real time saver if it succeeds. And if not, a worthwhile effort.

April's to-do list is a bit lighter than March's - assuming you tackled everything last month, of course! And if you didn’t, just keep moving forward and do what you can.

April at Juniper Hill Cottage

A few behind-the-scenes notes from the garden as spring begins to stretch its legs.

🌼What I’m Planting

• Myosotis (forget-me-not) - ‘Victoria blue’, ‘Victoria pink’, and ‘Spring & Summer’*

• Delphinium belladonna ‘Casablanca’*

• Antirrhinum majus (snapdragon) - ‘Chantilly Light Salmon’, ‘Maryland Apple Blossom’*

*seedlings from seeds I started in the fall

🌼What’s Blooming

• Hellebores - so many varieties showing off

• Tulipa (tulips) - ‘Apricot Symbiose’, ‘Salmon Prince’, ‘Black Hero’

🌼My Biggest Challenge

Managing shade and water. We’ve had such a bizarre hot spell recently that I struggled with using frost fabric to try to shade my beds with young plants rather bringing out the shade cloth already. And have done a ton of hand watering rather than turn on my drip system. Neither of which would normally happen until mid-April.

🌼Last Month’s Lesson Learned

I put out a few cool season seedlings - quite small - that normally do quite well this time of year, but I neglected to put out deterrents for the pill bugs (aka, roly-polies). Did you know that they can devour young seedlings in a single evening? Yep. Next day I ordered 3 jugs of Sluggo-Plus! Better late than never.

Lesson Learned: before planting very young seedlings, check your soil to see if you have pill bugs in large numbers lurking.

Acanthocereus Tetragonus Monstrose ‘Fairy Castle Cactus’ is a true desert cactus and I had to bring it indoors for the winter as it’s a zone 10-11 cactus.

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About These Checklists

While we don’t offer garden maintenance services here at The Whiskey Porch, these monthly Garden Keeping Checklists are designed to help you stay on track and feel supported through the seasons.

Whether you’re handling everything yourself or working with a maintenance crew, you’ll find the tips practical and flexible - especially if you’re gardening in or around Prescott, Arizona, or in other Zone-7 and neighboring climates anywhere in the world.

Each checklist reflects the rhythm I experience here in Prescott’s downtown microclimate, so your own garden may vary slightly depending on your elevation, location, and what you’re growing. Generally speaking, these notes align with USDA Zone 7b.

Of course, no two years are exactly alike, even in the same zone. Some seasons bring an early hard freeze in late October, while others hold off until December. Keep that in mind as you plan your tasks.

These guides are geared toward landscape gardens that include mostly perennials, with a sprinkling of annuals, veggies and herbs.

Let’s get to it!

👉🏼A quick note:

Beginning next month, the Garden Keeping Journals will become part of the ‘The Gifts Library’ for paid subscribers here at Letters from The Whiskey Porch.

If you’ve been finding these monthly guides helpful, becoming a paid subscriber will ensure you continue receiving each new edition.

Plants & Planting

April is a month of patience and preparation - plenty is happening in the garden, but the real planting season is still just around the corner.

• If you've already got any tender annuals or young perennials in the ground, be sure to protect them from overnight frosts depending on the weather. Better yet -- resist the urge! The warm sunny days can be so tempting, but since our average last frost date is around May 10th (or Mother's Day) it's really best to wait to plant out your young tenders until then.

• The same applies if you happen to have fruit trees, which can begin budding now and need to be protected from late frosts - be prepared with a plan, or possibly go without fruit this season

• Continue starting tender plants indoors or in greenhouses - we are about 4-6 weeks out from the last frost so you've still got time to get a head start.

• It's about time to pot up your tomatoes and other fast growing seedlings now.

• April is a good time to sow annual veggies directly in garden beds like: lettuce, chard, carrots, peas, radish, late cabbage - these are the ones that are cool season crops. Wait on the rest.

• If you are planning to add larger trees or shrubs to your landscape, it's probably ideal to try to do so by the end of this month. When we start getting into May and June the temps ramp up and we typically get very little rain (until the monsoon comes in July). So this can be a really tough time to get these larger items established. It's not impossible, but more challenging.

​Water

As the days warm up, plants begin asking for a little more attention - but overwatering isn’t the right solution.

• Power back up your drip system around mid-month (be sure to allow time to check for leaks and repair) - set the schedule to run at 50% of full season level but manage it carefully.

• If we have a period of cooler, cloudy days maybe consider hand watering those newer plants that need extra water for now rather than running your system more than necessary.

​Critters

As new growth appears, so do a few garden visitors - some welcome, and some a little less so.

• Re-apply Deer Repellent to succulents and around bird feeders🦌. I also apply repellents around all my roses especially those that have few thorns. For the most part, everything else I grow is either deer and rabbit resistant, or inside the walled kitchen garden where it's safe!

• Begin watching for aphids and thrips and whiteflies. Those little guys can appear suddenly and it's easy to manage them with a hose sprayer or some insecticidal soap if you jump on it right away. Be vigilant!

• Keep refilling those bird feeders and keep those hummingbird feeders clean and full. I usually back off on the hummer feeders when all my flowering plants get going because ... well, they've got lots to fuel them then.

Most gardeners don’t realize that Antirrhinum majus (snapdragon) is a pretty tough plant and will overwinter in zone-7. And, they will happily re-seed if you let them. This one is growing in a pot under an Alligator Juniper tree on the south patio.

​Maintenance

This is the month when a little steady maintenance now saves a lot of scrambling later. Because the speed of things will pickup quickly in May.

• Fertilize with an organic, well balanced product in entire the garden (if you didn't already do this in late March)

• Fertilize roses with slow release rose-specific food (I use one that also protects against some diseases and pests)

• Watch for weeds - pull as much as possible, or spray only if absolutely needed. Don't let them go to seed, and you'll get ahead of it over time.

Planning & Reflecting

April is a good moment to check in with your plans and make a few thoughtful adjustments before the season really takes off.

• Check your winter garden plans to see if there are any remaining items to order now that stocks are pretty full and everyone is shipping. Check your local retailers first to see if they carry what you are looking for, but if you’re like me and have your eye on more unusual plants or cultivars, don't be too quick to compromise and just pickup whatever is available locally.

• Don't wait too much longer because many growers begin to sell out (if they haven't already) on the more popular or unusual items. Plus, having young plant stock shipped when it's getting hotter out isn't a great way to ensure healthy arrivals.

What are you Working On?

I want to thank you for following along. I've gotten so many nice notes from readers on these checklists, and that really makes my day. It's wonderful to be able to share a little info and help add a bit of structure to your garden quest.

Be sure to enjoy your time outdoors in your garden - even if it’s not exactly what you’d imagined just yet. It will never be perfect. It’s a process.

Enjoy :)

Let me know if there's anything else for April that I should have included. I'd love to hear.

Until next month…

With contentment & possibility,

P.S. Writing these letters is really about creating a shared space - a place for conversation, curiosity, and learning together. If this post resonated, a quick ❤️ like or 💬 comment below 👇🏼 helps me know you’re out there - and helps others discover Letters from The Whiskey Porch too.

Thank you. Truly.