GARDENING THIS WEEKEND: APRIL 2, 2026
Here are the most time-sensitive things I’d put on your list to get done when you can over this holiday weekend.
PLANT
• Tomatoes. Timing is critical. Wait too long and you’ll run into summer’s heat. Stay with small-fruiting types.
• Peppers, bush beans, squash, cucumbers, corn and other warm-season vegetables. Okra, sweet potatoes and southern peas can be planted in South Texas but wait several weeks in North Texas.
• Warm-season annuals including marigolds, zinnias, cosmos, wax begonias, pentas, angelonias, and coleus. In South Texas you can add lantanas, periwinkles, moss rose, firebush, Texas Gold esperanza, hybrid purslane, and caladiums to the list, but save them for planting later in April in North Texas.
PRUNE
• Spring-flowering shrubs and vines to reshape as needed but avoid pruning them into unnatural globes and cubes.
• Remove spent flowers from spring bulbs such as daffodils and narcissus to tidy up your garden but leave foliage intact until it dies to the ground in several weeks.
• Dead or damaged branches from trees, shrubs, including stems killed by recent winters’ cold. Wait to prune oaks until mid-July to lessen the chance of spreading oak wilt. Seal all cut surfaces of oaks immediately with paint.
FERTILIZE
• Lawn, landscape, and garden plants with all-nitrogen fertilizer with 30-40 percent of that nitrogen in slow-release form. Have a soil test run every 3-4 years, however, to confirm that recommendation. The Texas A&M Soil Testing Lab is your best source of reliable help. Their information is available online.
• New annual and perennial transplants with liquid or water-soluble, high-N fertilizer weekly for several feedings.
ON THE LOOKOUT
• Cabbage loopers chewing holes in leaves of Cole crops (cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, etc.). Apply B.t. biological worm treatment. The adults are small white butterflies. When you see them, keep an eye out for the loopers that soon follow.
• Aphids congregating on tender new growth. Most general-purpose organic or inorganic insecticides will control them.
• Snails and slugs feeding at night. You’ll see their slime trails on the ground and on plant leaves. Dust with a snail/slug bait. Some people use a shallow pan filled with beer or with dry dog food to which you’ve added water. The pests will be attracted to the smell and will drown.
• Broadleafed weeds with a spray product containing 2,4-D. Read and follow label directions for best results and to avoid doing damage to desirable trees and shrubs nearby.