April - The Garden Wise Journal - Newsletter
The Garden Wise Journal
Gardening is more than a hobby. It is a lifestyle.
Welcome to The Garden Wise Journal
April in Colorado keeps gardeners on their toes, but those who understand the rhythm of the season can stay one step ahead. This issue of The Garden Wise Journal delivers a smart April action plan, highlights the resilient coralberry shrub that feeds birds through winter, and dives into the fascinating world of snowdrops, including why now is the perfect time to divide them for next year’s early blooms
You will also find a practical checklist to guide your April gardening decisions, from frost protection to soil prep and planting cool-season crops. Plus, we clear up a common myth about eggshells and soil health, helping you focus on what actually works so your garden thrives without guesswork.
Feature Article of the Month
Coralberry — The Bird Magnet You Have Been Missing
Symphoricarpos orbiculatus
Most Colorado gardeners walk right past coralberry at the nursery. That is a mistake. This tough native North American shrub grows 2 to 5 feet tall, handles full sun to part shade, tolerates clay soil, and produces vivid coral-pink to purple berries that persist through winter, feeding birds when every other food source has disappeared.
It spreads naturally, stabilizes slopes, and requires almost no maintenance once established. If you have a tricky spot, a shady corner, a slope, or a woodland edge, coralberry fills it beautifully. Look for Proud Berry for hot pink berries in a compact, garden-worthy form.
Discover this month’s featured article
Plant Profile
Snowdrops — Plan Now for Next Winter’s First Color
April is the perfect time to divide and relocate snowdrop clumps while the foliage is still green. Miss this window and you wait another year.
- There are over 20 species and hundreds of named cultivars. Serious collectors pay triple digits for single bulbs.
- They naturalize on their own. One bulb becomes a drift over time, spread by both division and ants.
- Galanthus elwesii, the Giant Snowdrop, handles Colorado winters particularly well.
- Plant or divide in the green stage right now for the best results next February.
- Seed-grown plants can take 5 to 7 years to bloom, so dividing established clumps is the fastest path to more flowers.
Read the full Snowdrop article
Monthly Tips
April Gardening Checklist for Colorado
April rewards the prepared and punishes the impatient. Do not let the warm afternoons fool you into planting too early. Here is what smart Colorado gardeners are doing right now.
- Keep frost cloth ready. Cover anything tender when temperatures dip below 32°F.
- Prep beds but do not work wet soil. Wait until a handful crumbles, not clumps.
- Direct sow cool-season crops now: spinach, peas, radishes, carrots, lettuce, and chard.
- Divide perennials while they are just emerging: hostas, daylilies, and goldenrod.
- Prune fruit trees and summer-flowering shrubs including Butterfly Bush and Blue Mist Spirea.
- Turn on irrigation carefully. Check for cracked pipes and broken heads before setting your schedule.
- Apply pre-emergent for crabgrass when soil temps hit 50 to 55°F, typically early to mid April.
Garden Myth Busting
Do eggshells really add calcium to your soil?
Every spring, gardeners crush eggshells into their garden beds expecting a calcium boost. Here is the truth. Eggshells are mostly calcium carbonate, the same material as limestone rock. In real garden conditions, they take months to years to break down into anything plants can use.
And blossom end rot on tomatoes? Almost never caused by a calcium deficiency in the soil. It is caused by inconsistent watering that prevents calcium uptake. Consistent watering, healthy soil structure, and if a soil test shows a real deficiency, gypsum or liquid calcium will fix it fast. Eggshells are fine in your compost. Just do not count on them when your plants need help now.
The Garden Wise Guy Radio Show
Join Keith on the Garden Wise Guy radio show for timely seasonal advice, real garden stories, and answers to questions gardeners are asking right now.
Every Saturday from 7 to 9 am MST on Legends 810 AM.
Keith Funk
The Garden Wise Guy