Bring your garden back to life

Stalk some stock. Raise some roses. Vary your vegetables. April is

the time to get jiggy in the garden.

If your garden looks like mine, you’re in pretty bad shape. The

last time I touched the garden was January: I pruned the roses and

gave everything a hit of Miracle-Gro, which by the way, made the

weeds grow even faster. With spring around the corner, I’m becoming

motivated. Or maybe I’m just tired of looking at a garden that

resembles Medusa. Or maybe because one of my neighbors will be the

“garden” part of Harbor High’s Home & Garden Tour this year. Watching

Judy work outside is inspiring me to achieve greater heights (or not

sink into lower lows).

The first task is the hardest: clean and weed. All of those

unwelcome guests of a plant and varmint nature have got to go. It’s

time and elbow grease. Put on your headset, grab your favorite tunes

and check out for a while. Better yet, get the kids to do it for you.

After the weeds, comes fresh soil. If the rains have matted or

washed away your topsoil, now is the time to replace it. Turning in

new dirt makes a huge difference in the way your garden grows and the

way it looks. Spread some snail and slug repellent around. Before you

plant anything, make sure that it won’t become dinner for a mollusk.

When I’m not watching, those pests get a party started and there’s no

shutting them down.

Everything in the garden needs fertilizing, even the lawn. Your

lawn needs three to five inches of water this month. If that doesn’t

come in the form of rain, you need to set your sprinklers to apply

about one-half inch every third night -- about 20 minutes for most

systems. The roses need another round of high-nitrogen fertilizer to

keep producing waves of prolific blooms.

If you plan to expand your garden, now is a good time to do it.

The nurseries are full of fresh annuals and perennials. As I’ve been

cruising the aisles of local nurseries, I have to admit, there are

plants and flowers I’ve never seen before. If this is the sort of

thing that excites you, you’re in luck. I’m just confused. I’ve spent

a lot of time searching for those plastic tags that tell you what

kind of trouble you’re getting into.

Beautiful plants like White Nancy lamium with its green and white

leaves are a fresh addition to a shady spot. Where did all the

heucheras come from? There are varieties with burgundy leaves, gold

leaves, even an apricot-colored variety. Hydrangeas. How did I

completely miss out on hydrangeas that climb? Since I can’t grow the

regular variety, I don’t have much hope for their climbing

counterparts, but in the pictures, those plants look pretty good (and

I’m wondering how many decades it will take to get the side of my

house completely covered).

Mature rose bushes are bloomin’ away and are yours for the asking

-- and paying. I used to say that I wouldn’t buy fully-grown roses, I

thought bare root was the only way to go. OK, I’m over that. I’ve

nurtured too many failures to be puritanical. If you want to try a

vegetable or herb garden, this is the perfect month to get started,

and you don’t need a lot of space. In fact, you can sneak herbs into

your regular garden. Basil, parsley, sage and chives camouflage

themselves nicely among garden regulars.

* KAREN WIGHT is a Newport Beach resident. Her column runs

Saturdays.