Gardening by the Moon Weekend To-Do
An idea as old as agriculture, based both folklore and superstition but there are scientific ideas to back it up.
- Saturday-Sunday: Moon in the sign of Cancer -
- The danger of frost has passed, so it’s an excellent time to prune off any winter damage and encourage new growth with a balanced fertilizer.
Later in the Week
- Wednesday and Thursday: Moon in the sign of Leo - Harvest, cultivate, control pests, and weed
- Aphids cause the leaves on flowering and fruiting plum trees to curl. You should pick off the curled leaves, then spray the tree(s) with Insecticidal Soap and make a follow-up application in seven days. Once the leaves curl, they’ll never uncurl; instead, they shrivel up and turn brown, so it's important to identify the problem early on.
Other Things To-do
- When planting vines, avoid planting them on a fence. Your neighbor may not enjoy your choice when it intrudes into his or her yard. Use a trellis or some other support method.
- With warm weather approaching, it’s time to reestablish the watering basins around trees and shrubs, especially those on a slope. With slopes, I build the basin higher on the downward side to prevent the water from draining away.
- It’s a good time to reseed bare spots and thicken up sparse lawns. For bare spots, reseed the blank areas; however, for thickening, you need to reseed the entire area.
- Finally, it’s not too late to prune spring flowering shrubs that have finished blooming.