Most of us celebrate the New Year on January 1st. I like to think the New Year begins March 21st on the first day of spring. After a long cold winter we welcome the first warm day of April. The warm sun on our faces makes us feel good and welcomes in the new season.
April is a bird month. If you’re a morning person and are up at dawn the bird chorus this time of day can be unbelievable. Blue birds, chickadees, swallows, redwing blackbirds, and especially robins are singing their way into courtship. Robins are in the thrush family. When they gather on our lawn in the early morning hunting for earth worms, they are a natural alarm clock. Many birds are making a comeback in our area. Bald eagles are a good example. In the last month bald eagles have been spotted along River Rd, Old Pawling Rd in Pawling, on Whaley Lake in Holmes, and they have also been seen cruising the ten mile river in Wingdale. The comeback of the bald eagles is directly related to diminishing use of pesticides. We can thank one another for that.
April is a bud swelling month and spring is happening all over the landscape. As the sun starts to warm the soil most plants are starting to poke their anxious little heads out of the leaves. Early wild flowers are some of my favorites and these flowers tend to be loaded with nectar. Early nectar is Mother Nature’s way of feeding bees and other early insects as they wake up. Trees, shrubs, and early perennials as they swell and break bud create an almost fall like color in mid and late April, especially in wetland regions. Swamp maple limbs turn crimson and some shrubs turn a mustard yellow. Early perennials , like marsh marigold, are a bright yellow this time of year. Early fruit trees, like plums and peaches, are beginning to flower.
Grass has gone from golden yellow to bright green. Good news to most gardeners with deer problems, deer go from browsers to grazers, this time of year, which tend to keep deer away from trees and shrubs.
Now is the time of year to start working the vegetable garden. Be careful not to start working soil that is too wet. This can create soil compaction problems. Start with plants that are cold hardy like peas, lettuce, and radishes. Try not to rush the whole spring garden at once. We have until the end of May to work it all in.