What do bulbs, baskets, bunnies and break have in common?

They’re all in season now and every bit a part of what April is all about at home, in the landscape, at nurseries and in retail garden centers. While planning and planting season is truly a year-round endeavor, activities accelerate in April as we prepare for peak outdoor season across the country.
Consumers are scratching an itch to plant annuals and create festive spring holiday centerpieces. (Stay tuned for ideas!) Nursery operations have been batching much-anticipated Easter plantings to retailers while balancing Mum propagating and planting so they don’t “fall behind” after summer. (It’s always a think-ahead approach.)

Landscapers are breaking ground now that soil temperatures are warming in most northern states. (We have an “insurance” plan for you.)
Ready to spring into action?

A-Tisket-A-Tasket – from Basket to Backyard

Inspired by pretty pastel petals and bold, blooming buds? So are we. Garden centers are ripe with potted, about-to-bloom bulbs like hyacinths, daffodils and tulips, offering fragrant and colorful house plants that you can enjoy indoors. Then, bury them into landscape beds so they pop up again next spring.

Improve growing odds for success inside and in the garden with Plant Thrive, a microbial-based beneficial bacteria that enhances soil conditions. You can work it into the soil or use it as a drench by watering in plants after mixing the granules with water. We love that this “vitamin” can also be mixed and used as a foliar spray so you easily can spruce up plants with a mist. 

Inspiring Containers, Top to Bottom
Stunning containers are built with three layers: thrillers, fillers and spillers.

Thrillers: Think height and drama, a vertical element that draws the eye up and leaves leg room for fuller, lower-growing varieties. Choose the container first, then the tall plants, working your way down. Leave room for expansion, both above soil-level and deep into the container where roots need space to develop without crowding and competing for nutrients.

Fillers: Rounded, mounded filler plants should be placed around the taller, thriller plant, allowing room for spillers like creeping varieties that will edge over the sides of a container.

Spillers: This is your last step, tucking trailing plants into the soil close to the container’s perimeter. If your container will have 360-degree views, fill in spillers around the entire edge. If not, focus on the front-facing section.

Check out our handy Soil Moist Calculator to figure out how much of this water-storing polymer (granules last 3 to 5 years in containers!) should be worked into the soil for growing success.

Ready, Set, ‘Scape

Landscape professionals are already in full gear, from seeding and hydroseeding to focusing on water-saving techniques early on to prepare for summer heat. Now is a crucial time for delivering nutrition to turf and plants so they can grow strong and develop before stressors like drought become an issue.

In northern states, soil temperatures given a colder winter than usual might not be warm enough for planting. In general, the ideal soil temperature for planting is around 60°F, but some cool-season varieties like kale can tolerate 50°F. Remember to measure soil temperature from a depth of 4 to 6 inches.

Now, about that “insurance plan” we mentioned. Add some security measures to seeding, hydroseeding and planting jobs.

Soil Moist Seed Coat improves germination by retaining excess moisture from the soil and air. HydroBond is a non-toxic polymer used in hydroseeding applications to stick or bind mulch matrix media to the soil. And Soil Moist Plus is a water-storing time-release (8 to 9 months) fertilizer that encourages healthy growth and sustains plants during extreme temperatures. It can reduce irrigation efficiency by up to 50%.

Market this information to your landscape customers for a competitive edge.

 

Deck the Tabletop for Easter – and Beyond

Let us count the ways we love Deco Beads for everyday centerpieces, for preserving florists’ arrangements, for crazy-fun STEM kid projects, and for holiday tabletop attention-getters. The list goes on. These decorative gel beads swell up when you add water, and they are environmentally safe. With more than 20 colors available, you can have a spring fling with yellow, green, pink and purple — and go boldly into Memorial Day with red, white and blue.

 

 

Going on Vacay?

While you bask in the sun, give your houseplants some time for soaking in what they appreciate — water. Vacation Mats last a couple of weeks, and all you have to do is lay them on a cookie sheet or tray, add water and set containers (with drainage holes open) on the surface.

 

 

 

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Keep up with JRM during our travels and stay on top of the latest news by following us on Instagram @jrm_inc. Also, tap into our library of resources for guidance, ideas and news. We’re pleased to introduce our latest catalogue, and contact us any time.