Now is the time to plant herbs in your garden. With a little irrigation, you will have an abundance of fresh herbs to season summer cooking and canning. (Photo: Jill Wellington, Pixabay)

Tasks

• Check drip systems, sprinklers, and other irrigation systems for repair needs.
• Flush irrigation lines and inspect sprinkler valves for proper operation.
• Protect transplants from cutworms by putting a barrier, such as a paper collar, around the stem.

Pruning

• Deadhead winter annuals to prolong bloom.
• For bulbs, deadhead spent blooms only. Leave foliage and stalk to wither naturally to provide nutrients for next year's flowers.

Fertilizing 

• Fertilize stone fruit, pear, apple, and nut trees and berries with one third of the needed annual amount of fertilizer.
• Fertilize citrus when trees begin to bloom.

Planting

• Plant Easter lilies in full sun in outdoor beds after blossoms fade. They will bloom next May or early June.
• Annuals: alstromeria, Kangaroo paw (antigozanthos), and petunia, plant from seed.
• Bulbs, corms, tubers: fairy lily (Zephyranthes).
• Fruits and vegetables: beets, chard, spinach, and turnips from seed.
• Perennials: coral bells(Heuchera), maiden grass (Miscanthus), fountain grass (Pennisetum), sage (Salvia), pincushion flower (Scabiosa).
• Trees, shrubs, vines: clematis, dogwood (Cornus), rockrose (Cistus), hop bush (Dodonaea viscosa), cotoneaster.

Enjoy now

• Annuals and perennials: candytuft, iris, lobelia, forget-me-not (Myosotis), poppy.
• Bulbs, corms, tubers: ranunculus, tulip.
• Trees, shrubs, vines: orange, rhaphiolepis, rhododendron, lilac (Syringa vulgaris).
• Fruits and vegetables: potatoes, radish, rutabaga, spinach, strawberry, turnip.

Things to ponder

• Give new plants ample water until root system is established.
• Bermudagrass will begin to green up as the soil temperature rises.