April Gardening Tips and Videos

April Tips from
OSU's Jan McNeilan

Early spring is a great time to tackle those landscape remodeling projects. We checked in with Jan McNeilan, retired OSU extension agent, to see her latest project. Jan and her husband Ray have decided to tackle the front yard which they thought had gotten a little out of hand. Jan explained that she first wanted to tackle some of the weather beaten plants from this past winter.

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She was going to cut back the dead and dying plant material and then wait to see how many of the other plants would bounce back before she decided how to tackle them. Patience is the key. Then she was going to remove a euphorbia that had grown out of its space. She told us that she was going to wear gloves because of the milky sap of the stems. This sap is an irritant for some people and could cause burns to the skin if they contacted it. It is a good idea to always wear gloves no matter the job you are tackling. Next they have to decide what type of plant they are going to replace it with. It is a good thing they have the perfect book to help them make the decision, The Pacific Northwest Gardener’s Book of Lists. They just happen to be the authors! It is a great book that organizes plant material by the conditions that the plant prefers. You will find shade plants, sun plants, dry plants and those that love a little moisture, all listed in areas the will help you make the correct plant decision. If you would like to meet the authors and learn more about the correct place for plants you can see them at Gardenpalooza. You can even get your own signed copy of their book!

(Originally aired on GardenTime TV. See the GardenTime web site for more videos and information about the show).