Garden work in April
In April there is a rapid melting of snow, spring is in full swing. In early April, it should be pruned, thinning and shaping the crown of fruit trees. Pruning of trees ends before the buds swell (vegetation).
If the branches are very frozen, then their pruning should be carried out not earlier than June 10-15, when it will be clear which parts of the tree are preserved and which parts are not.
Pruning must begin with fruit-bearing apple trees, then cut the pear, plum and cherry. Young trees are cut off last. At this time, remove the binding from the boles and spend a re-whitewash with lime, if it is washed off. Whitening is carried out at the end of the pruning.
After the snow has completely fallen off, the shrubs are cut off (if you did not do this work in the fall). Cut weak, sick and broken branches. Black currant cuts all branches that are older than 4 years, while red and white currants and gooseberries have 6-8 years.
If, during trimming the currant, you have found shoots infected with a kidney mite (the kidneys are swollen), then they are cut and burned. The dead ends of annual shoots of gooseberries are also cut off.
Branches of raspberries are released (for the winter they tie and bend to the ground), the land is removed, as are weak young shoots. Healthy shoots are raised and tied up on trellises.
It is necessary to spray apples, pears, currants and gooseberries before budding the solution of nitrafen (per 10 liters of water 200 g.). It is done against such pests and plant diseases as aphids (aphid eggs), scabbard, medina, apple scab, gooseberry mildew, gooseberry anthracnose and currant. Raspberry bushes are sprayed with a 2% solution of nitrafen (per 10 liters of water in 200 g) for the prevention of pathogens of fungal diseases.
Stamps of old trees must be cleaned of dead cortex, moss and lichens. The root shoots of the plum and cherry are removed.
After the snow has melted, nitrogen fertilizers (bird droppings, slurry, mullein, nitrate, urea) should be introduced into the soil. After that, the loosening of the soil around the trunks of fruit trees, gooseberries, currants and raspberries begins. After you apply fertilizers and loosen the soil, it should be leveled and mulched - covered with peat, manure or humus.
The site of strawberries is cleared of mustaches and old leaves, nitrogen fertilizers are introduced, the soil around the plants is loosened and mulched with humus, straw manure or peat.
Planted berry bushes and fruit trees. However, first of all it is necessary to carry out the repair of plantings, the removal of densely planted, weak and dead plants. If necessary, they are replaced with new ones.
Even before the beginning of sap flow, it is necessary to conduct a re-infection of fruit trees by copulking, in a cleft, half-cleaved and in a "side incision".
At the same time, combustible materials are prepared, which can be useful in case of spring frosts.
