The Coastal Gardener:

“April hath put a spirit of youth in everything.”

April is pure magic. I wish April would last for 100 days; there’s not enough time to see all I want to see and do all I want to do.

I hope all of you take the time this month to see the glorious wildflowers on display, to join a local home garden tour, to visit a garden show and especially to walk slowly, very slowly, through a great garden — maybe your own — stopping to appreciate the myriad details and mysteries of the flowers and foliage.

While enjoying the show, during April there are still a few duties to perform in your own coastal Orange County garden:

 Turn automatic sprinkler timers back on.

Last fall I told you to turn your automatic sprinklers to “off” and to water manually and only as needed through the cool winter months. Now it is time to return your clocks back to their “automatic” mode. But until the weather truly stabilizes in another month or so, you will still want to adjust the watering days occasionally, to match the still changing weather.

 Add mulch.

Adding a thick layer of organic mulch under shrubs and overexposed soil is always good for your garden. Mulching heavily now will reduce water needs enormously, will suppress summer crabgrass and other weeds, will cool the soil during the hot summer and will help maintain biologically healthy soil that your plants enjoy. Don’t be stingy, for most of you it’s not one or two bags, it’s 20 or 30 bags, or more — really.

 Plant warm-weather plants.

It’s time to transition from cool, winter growing annuals and bulbs to warm, summer-growing plants. The pansies, violas, cyclamen, anemones, primrose and poppies that have been so delightful during the past few months are ready to be replaced by warm weather alternates. With the proper selections, April-planted flowers will perform all through the hot summer and into fall. These might include dahlias, petunias, zinnias, marigolds, salvias, lobelia and many more.

 Rotate vegetables.

Vegetables and herbs follow the same seasonal rules as flowers. April is the best month to give up on winter growers like lettuces, peas and members of the cabbage family such as broccoli, cauliflower, kale and others. Instead, get tomatoes, peppers, squash, cucumbers, eggplant, beans and melons into the ground now.

 Cage or stake tomatoes.

If you planted your tomatoes already, then you’re already noticing how fast they grow. They’ll grow twice as fast in April! Get a substantial cage or a few stakes around them now, before it’s too late and they’re hopelessly sprawled across the ground, swallowing lesser vegetables in their wake.

 Thin fruit on trees.

Deciduous fruit trees, like peaches, nectarines, plums and apricots that are laden with small thumbnail-sized fruit now always drop a good portion of their crop in May or June. Manually thinning fruit clusters from three to two or five to three sounds anti-productive, but isn’t. Done now, this will lessen the effects of this “drop,” will produce larger fruit, a higher-quality crop and will be better for your tree. Just grab the small immature fruits and twist them off. It won’t hurt a bit.

April is about plants and gardens. Because it won’t last forever, be sure to get outside and do a few of the chores mentioned here.

Then, slow down a bit, walk slowly, very slowly, and enjoy nature in all its April glory.

Ask Ron

My camellia is pale green and looks unhealthy, but still blooms. When should I fertilize it and what should I use?

— Molly

Costa Mesa

Camellias are not heavy feeders, but they are particular about needing an acidic soil. Many camellias in the area are not yellow because of a lack of fertilizer, but because the soil is not acidic enough. Start by maintaining an acidic mulch under the camellia year-round. When you do fertilize it, and now is the perfect time, use cottonseed meal or an azalea-camellia food. But do not cultivate the fertilizer into the soil; camellias do not like their delicate feeder roots damaged. If you stick with this regimen and water properly your camellia should green up, but it may take a few months.

ASK RON your toughest gardening questions, and the expert nursery staff at Roger’s Gardens will come up with an answer. Please include your name, phone number and city, and limit queries to 30 words or fewer. E-mail stumpthegardener@rogersgardens.com, or write to Plant Talk at Roger’s Gardens, 2301 San Joaquin Hills Road, Corona del Mar, CA 92625.

RON VANDERHOFF is the Nursery Manager at Roger’s Gardens, Corona del Mar.